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BULLETIN

OF "THE

BRITISH
ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

EDITED BY

DR. JEFFERY G. HARRISON

1956

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE

PREFACE

EIGHT MEETINGS of the Club were held in 1956, the May meeting being
cancelled owing to unavoidable circumstances. Nine numbers of the
BULLETIN were issued as usual and this volume contains 160 pages,
including three four-page inserts of art paper for photographic reproduc-
tions. Volume 76 is therefore the largest since before the last war and
represents the target which the Committee has been striving to achieve in
its efforts to improve the BULLETIN.

It is most gratifying that the support of contributors has enabled the
BULLETIN to be built up in this way and at the time of writing the supply
of papers is satisfactory and there is a short waiting list of approximately
five months. In order to maintain the BULLETIN in its present state, the
urgent need now is to increase the number of subscribers and it is to be
hoped that everyone, whether contributors or not, will do their best to
bring this about.

The Editor would like to thank all those who have helped him during
the past year. Mr. C. N. Walter has once again prepared the List of
Authors. This year a separate list of the newly described forms has also
been prepared to ensure that their descriptions are not overlooked by
abstractors and for easier reference. The publication of a full scientific
index with each volume is beyond the finances of the Club at present.

The numbers attending the meetings for the year were as follows:
Members of the Club, 272; Members of the B.O.U., 40; Guests, 112;
Guests of the Club, Mr. and Mrs. R. Darnton, Mr. I. C. T. Galbraith,

Dr. A. McDiarmid; Total, 428.
JEFFERY HARRISON.
Sevenoaks, December 1956.

i
COMMITTEE 1956

Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED, Chairman (elected 1956).
Captain C. R. S. PITMAN, Vice-Chairman (elected 1956)
Dr. J. G. HARRISON, Editor (elected 1952).
Mr. N. J. P. WADLEY, Secretary (elected 1950).
Mr. C. N. WALTER, Hon. Treasurer (elected 1950).
Major-General C. B. WAINWRIGHT (elected 1953).
Dr. G. BEVEN (elected 1954).
Mrs. B. P. HALL (elected 1955)
Miss T. CLAY (elected 1956).

OFFICERS OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB
PAST AND PRESENT

Chairmen
P. L. SCLATER 1892-1913
LORD ROTHSCHILD 1913-1918
W. L. SCLATER 1918-1924
H. F. WITHERBY 1924-1927
Dr. P. R. LOWE 1927-1930
Major S. S. FLOWER 1930-1932
D. A. BANNERMAN 1932-1935
G. M. MATHEWS 1935-1938
Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON 1938-1943
D. SETH-SMITH 1943-1946
Dr. J. M. HARRISON 1946-1949
Sir PHiLip MANSON-BAHR 1949-1953
Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN 1953-1956
C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED 1956—
Vice-Chairmen

LorRD ROTHSCHILD 1930-193]
W. L. SCLATER 1931-1932
H. F. WITHERBY 1932-1933
G. M. MATHEWS 1933-1934
N. B. KINNEAR 1934-1935
H. WHISTLER 1935-1936
D. SETH-SMITH 1936-1937

iV
Colonel R. SPARROW
Dr. 'G. CARMICHAEL LOW
Hon. Guy CHARTERIS
W. L. SCLATER
Dr. D. A. BANNERMAN
Capt. C. H. B. GRANT
B. W. TUCKER
F. J. F. BARRINGTON
Dr. E. HOPKINSON
C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Dr. J. M. HARRISON
Sir PHiLripP MANSON-BAHR
B. G.- HARRISON
Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON
Miss E. M. GODMAN
Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN
Major A. G. L. SLADEN
Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN
Mr. E. M. NICHOLSON
Captain C. R. S. PITMAN

Editors

R. BOWDLER SHARPE

W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT
D. A. BANNERMAN

D. SETH-SMITH

Dr. P. R. LOWE

N. B. KINNEAR

Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low
Captain C. H. B. GRANT
Dr. G. CARMICHAEL LOW
Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON
Captain C. H. B. GRANT
Dr. J. G. HARRISON

1937-1938
1938-1939
1938-1939
1939-1940
1939-1940
1940-1943
1940-1943
1943-1945
1943-1945
1945-1946
1945-1946
1946-1947
1946-1947
1947-1948
1947-1948
1948-1949
1948-1949
1949-1953
1953-1956
1956-

1892-1904
1904-1914
1914-1915
1915-1920
1920-1925
1925-1930
1930-1935
1935-1940
1940-1945
1945-1947
1947-1952
1952-

Honorary Secretaries and Treasurers

HOWARD SAUNDERS
W. E. DE WINTON

1892-1899
1899-1904

H.
Dr

C

F.
fli
G.

WITHERBY
R. LOWE

TTALBOT-PONSONBY
D. A. BANNERMAN

Dr. PHILIP GOSSE
J. L. BONHOTE

C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low
C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED

Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON

Honorary Secretaries

C. R. STONOR
N. B. KINNEAR

Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low
Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON
Captain C. H. B. GRANT

W. E. GLEGG

Miss G. M. RHODES

N. J. P. WADLEY

C. W. MACKWORTH—PRAED
Major A. G. L. SLADEN
Miss E. P. LEACH

Honorary Treasurers

C. N. WALTER

1904-1914
1914-1915

1915-1918
1918-1919
1919-1920
1920-1922
1922-1923
1923-1929
1929-1935

1935-1938
1938-1940
1940-1943
1943-1945
1945-1947
1947

1947-1949
1949-1950
1950-

1935-1936
1936-1942
1942-1949
1950-

Vi
LIST OF MEMBERS

DECEMBER 1956

As for 1954, amended December 1955, and as follows:

Resigned or died during 1956:

F. J. F. BARRINGTON, G. CAwson, Sqdn. Leader H. S. HEMSLEY-HALL,
A. C. Hupson, T. A. M. JACK, Commander A. W. P. ROBERTSON.

New Members in 1956:

ALSTON, Mrs. Conyers, Quest House, Court Road, Lee-on-Solent.

BitBy, H. A., 2 Sunnyside Cottages, High Street, Harlington, Hayes,
Middlesex.

Boston, F. M., Abernethian Room, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London,
lan Oi y

Bourne, Dr. W. R. P., 46 Wilbury Road, Hove, 3, Sussex.

BROOKE, Oliver, P.O. Box 20, Kericho, Kenya, East Africa.

Disney, H. J. de S., Dept. of Agriculture, P.O. Box No. 73, Dodoma,
Tanganyika Territory.

DorstT, Dr. Jean, 28 Boulevard Pereire, Paris, 17, France.

GRIMWOOD, I. R., P.O. Box 72, Lusaka, Rhodesia.

HARLEY, B. H., Broadwell Manor, Nr. Lechlade, Glos.

Home, H. C., 23 Marlborough Place, London, N.W.8.

Jacoss, T. C., 166 Edgwarebury Lane, Edgware, Middlesex.

Jones, D. B., Donyland Cottage, Wildernesse Avenue, Sevenoaks, Kent.

*JONES, Mrs. M. E., Donyland Cottage, Wildernesse Avenue, Sevenoaks,

Kent.

KASPARYAN, Dr. Aran, Feridiye Farabi Sok. No. 1, Taksim, Istanbul,
Turkey.

Lamm, D. W., American Consulate General, P.O. Box 194, Accra, Gold
Coast.

Lowe, Major P. Bruce, 28 Palace Road, East Molesey, Surrey.

MaxsE, Miss Violet, Hatchetts, Westburton, Pulborough, Sussex.
MOoUuLpb, Capt. A. M., *“The Green,’’ Hampton Court, E. Molesey, Surrey.
McGeocu, J. A., B.D.S., Little Elm, Elm Close, Wells, Somerset.
NEVIN, W. S., ‘“Oakbank,’’ Hythe, Kent.

Reay, W. H., A.M.W.D. Royal Air Force, Abyad, M.E.A.F. 25.

SimMsS, E., c/o B.B.C., London, W.1.

TATE, Peter, Half Acre, Rooks Hill, Ricksmansworth, Herts.

TOwILL, Lt.-Colonel F. H., 41 Canynge Road, Clifton, Bristol.

Vil
Townes, G. F., 209 Masonic Temple, Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.A.
Ving, A. E., 101 Victoria Street, Littleport, Ely, Cambs.
Wayre, P. L., Reynolds Farm, Great Witchingham, Norwich, Norfolk.
* WHITAKER, A. R., Flat 4, 35 Eton Avenue, London, N.W.3.
*WYNNE, R. O., Court Wood, Sandleheath, Fordingbridge, Hants.
YEALLAND, J. J., 56 Charlbert Court, London, N.W.8.

*Indicates Associate.

Member, Formerly Associate :
HAweEs, C. H., 248 Hoylake Crescent, [ckenham, Middlesex.

Changes of Address:

ATKINSON-WILLES, G. L., The Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Glos.

BAND, R. M., 516 North Drive, Cleveleys, Nr. Blackpool, Lancs.

BENSON, C. W., c/o Department of Game and Tsetse Control, P.O. Box 24,
Kasama.

BRAMBILL, R., 143 Fitzwilliam Road, Rotherham, Yorks.

Bryson, A. G. S., 48 Frogston Road West, Edinburgh, 10.

Da.cety, C. T., Broomy Lodge, Linwood, Ringwood, Hants.

FERGUSON-LEES, I. J., 30 St. Leonard’s Avenue, Bedford.

GorTON, ERIc, 249 Wigan Road, Westhoughton, Nr: Bolton, Lancs.

Irwin, M. P. Stuart, c/o Barclays Bank Ltd., 8th Avenue, Main Street,
Bulawayo.

MAvrocorbaTo, J. G., C.M.G., South Manor, Tilshead, Wilts.

Morrison, A. F., P.O. Box 523, Tanganyika, East Africa.

MaAcpPHERSON, D. W. K., P.O. Box 15, Namitete P.O., Nyasaland

McKittrick, T. H., Slate Falls, R.D.2, Blairstown, New Jersey, U.S.A.

PEASE, H. J. R., The Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, London, W.1. :

PLOWDEN-WARDLAW, W. J., c/o Messrs. James Milne (Grenada) Ltd., St.
George’s, Grenada, British West Indies.

REYNOLDS, Lt. R. A. W., Fernham, Torquay Road, Paignton, S. Devon.

RUSSELL, Lord Hugh, Crownholt, Woburn, Bletchley, Bucks.

RUSSELL, J. A. S., Furze Hall, Fryerning, Nr. Ingatestone, Essex.

SAGE, B. L., ‘‘Caldey,’’ 11 Deepdene, Potters Bar, Middlesex.

SERLE, Dr. W., Medical Administrative Headquarters, Victoria, South
Camerons, British West Endies. Farce,

WAINWRIGHT, Maj.-Gen. C. B., C.B., Hill Farm, Malting Green, Layer-
de-la-Haye, Colchester, Essex.

Wuite, C. M. N., 29 Albany Road, Ansdell, Lytham St. Annes, Lancs.

>)

CORRIGENDA, Volume 76

p. 33, line 36, for J. H. Beesley read J. S. S. Beesley.
p. 108, line 2, for J. H. Beesley read J. S. S. Beesley.

Vili
NEW FORMS 1956

Page
Amblyospiza albifrons woltersi re a ay be ee - Le 90
Batis capensis kennedyi ue is Mee sek A meh so stein WEAD
Buccanodon whytii irwini +o tes ls bik iv a ve ii 15
Calandrella brachydactyla hungarica ... me A Ss 2 os aban YF
Camaroptera fasciolata irwini Fis oa an me ay he i. ao
Chloropsis cochinchinensis kinneari ... a 7p ue re. ape Ls, 96
Cossypha natalensis egregior ... ee 4 ae eo aie A fis ey
Hirundo aethiopica amadoni_ ... es A oes sich oad tis sis) pry lO
Illadopsis cleaveri marchanti ra ie oe 4 — = tah 22
Mirafra williamsi i a, : - _ aa i. an ie 71
» albicauda rukwensis ... ay a e My ve £ er, 4
a rufocinnamomea pintoi = AF ve uty ee ah Sass 57
. oH schoutedeni... rel van af = se : 58
- J smithersi ... a mn aC ts tf ie 58
, sabota vesey-fitzgeraldi ac a ix. aes ie dts ba Deo
Nectarinia reichenowi lathburyi bx fs) ee Ane of es eee BOT
Passer diffusus luangwae sith skis pe se bi a) a. ” 40
Phylloscopus umbrovirens williamsi ... “oe rh, vr dk ap “= 10
Ploceus spilonotus dilutescens ... si be od: BS Ab be be), 89
Symplectes bicolor kigomaensis ane Ag ay — ee ae xy 33
Uraeginthus bengalus kigomaensis ... is sas ce At aR 34
LIST OF AUTHORS, Etc.
ACCOUNTS, FINANCIAL ub so ee LE ah ns ne 4a 66
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ee = sds We a: ash a 69
BARRINGTON, F. J. F. (dec’d.)
Bequest to the Club _... Mt Pte Rs atte ete te = LOS
BEESLEY, J. S. S.
Note on Oenanthe pileata livingstonei a ristram) ... me ads ure 33
South African Kite fishing ... oy as oe ne ae OD
Note on Ploceus reichardi Reichenow ae aR He hs eb
BENSON, C. W.
The races of Whyte’s Barbet .. im a % nies ne =e 14
Notes from Central Africa... 31
The relationship of Passer griseus (Vieillot) and Passer diffusus (Smith)
with the description of a new race of the latter ...
BENSON, C. W. See MorEAu, R. E.
BourRNE, Dr. W. R. P.
Notes on a Skull of the Genus Bulweria from St. Helena ... abe i 120

CAVE, Rev. F. O.
Type-locality of Francolinus schlegelii Heuglin tu a a But, POS

ix
CLANCEY, P. A.

A New Race of Phylloscopus umbrovirens (Ruppell) from the Juniper
Forests of Northern British Somaliland .... ......

Geographical Variation in the Southern African Populations of ‘Dicrurus
adsimilis (Bechstein) 1 wh

Two New Races of Weavers (Ploceidae) from Mozambique '

The South African Races of Cossypha natalensis Smith, with the Deserip-
tion of a new Race from Southern Mozambique

DARNTON, Mrs. Iris
Colour Film ‘‘From Flamingos to Hippos’’

DEIGNAN, H. G.
A Final Word on the Nomenclature of the Himalayan Goldcrests
See HALL, Mrs. B. P.
See HARRISON, Dr. James M.

FINNIS, Gerald

Road Casualties in Birds as nee ee. ne ts) Wie 109,

GALBRAITH, I. C. T.
The Birds of San Cristoval, British Solomon Islands

Goopwin, Derek
Remarks on the Rock and Aas Pigeons, Columba livia Linnaeus, and
C. guinea Linnaeus ae
Note on an alleged specimen of Hylocichla U. ustulata ‘Nuttall, from
British Guiana fe
Note on the Plumages of the Firethroat Luscinia pectar dens (David)
Note on the genus Pseudocossyphus Sharpe ; ‘

GoopwiIn, Derek, and VAuRIE, Dr. Charles
Are Luscinia pectardens (David and Oustalet) and Luscinia obscura
(Berezowsky and Bianchi) colour phases of a single species ? ... As

GorRTON, Eric. See HAZELWoop, Alfred

GRANT, Capt. C. H. B.
The ‘‘First Reviser’’ and the name of the Philippine Pelican

GRANT, Capt. C .H. B., and MACKWORTH-PRAED, C. W.
A new race of Dark-backed Weaver from Tanganyika Territory ... ad
A new race of Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu from nat ba Territory ...
On the type locality of Lybius bidentatus (Shaw) ...
On Barbatula bocagei Sousa, Jorn.Ac.Real.Sci.Lisboa, i, 7B. 158, 1886:

Caconda, Angola

African Swifts ...
On the type locality of Lybius dubius (Gmelin)

GRANT, Capt. C. H. B. See HARRISON, Dr. James M.

HALL, Mrs. B. P.
Variation in the Flycatcher Shrike Hemipus picatus (Sykes)
First Record of the Chinese Lesser Crested Tern, Thalasseus zimmermanni,
from Thailand
Note on Sir Walter Williamson, Kor M. G and his Bird and Ege Collections
from Thailand Rie

HALL, Mrs. B. P., and DEIGNAN, Mr. H. G.
A New Race of Leafbird from Indochina

106

150

141

112

35
34
124
159

159
160:

63
87
87

96

xX

HARRISON, Dr. James M.
On a Collection of Birds made Saleh pa peran = Lieutenant David L. Harrison
in Oman, Arabia

HARRISON, Dr. James M., GRANT, Capt. C. H. B., and DEIGNAN, H. G.
A Memorandum on the Name Corvus monedula spermologus Vieillot

HARRISON, Dr. James M., and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G.
An Icelandic Redshank in ireshly moulted Summer. ‘Plumage in

November _... a Le es ay ater 123, 31600

Possible Irradiation in Birds bis

Abnormal Seasonal Assumption of ‘Spring “Plumage in ‘the Redshank
(Tringa totanus Linnaeus) in association with possible Radioactive
Contamination m. ak va

Plumage Changes in Wild Tubercular ‘Wood ‘Pigeon

An Unusual Plumage Variation in the Wigeon, Anas penelope Linnaeus"

Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G., and WayreE, Philip
A case of Congenital Muscular Hemiatrophy in a Barrow’s Goldeneye ...

Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. See HARRISON, Dr. James M.
Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. See RANDALL, Dr. Keith.

HAZELWoop, Alfred, and GorTon, Eric
On Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn. ) in Great Britain ‘
On Two Large Examples of Plautus alle (L.) from Great Britain.

HorvaTH, Dr. L.
A new Race of the Short-toed Lark from Hungary

HorvaTH, Dr. L., and Keve, Dr. A.
On the Systematic Position of the Yellow Bee ee citrinella
Linnaeus in Hungary “iat ie fs = te ane

IRWIN, Michael P. Stuart) see.c.s53.
Notes on the Drinking Habits of Birds in Semi Desertic Bechuanaland
On the Geographical Variation in Bill Size of Parus afer in Relation to
Habitat : nM ek zit! a ‘Ke = in bs

KeveE, Dr. A. See HorvaTH, Dr. L.

Lack, David
Spine-tailed Swifts of the Old World

LysAGHT, Miss Averil
A Note on the Wate ag Black or eee Rail Porzana nigra Rirarncs
1784

MACDONALD, J. D.
A New Species of Lark from Kenya...

MACKWORTH-PRAED, C. W. See GRANT, Capt. C. H. B.

MANSON-BARR, Sir Philip
Clams as Predators of Birds ...

MAVROGORDATO, J.
Desert Falcons ...
MayaAub, Mons. Noel
On the Genus Coracia Brisson, 1760

Mayr, Dr. Ernst
The names 7reron griseicauda and Treron pulverulenta

11
107

132

92

99
114

|

at

70

51

70

105

62

XJ

McDIARMID, Dr. A.
Some Diseases of Free-living Wild Birds in Britain

MEINERTZHAGEN, Col. R.
Coloured slides of the Birds of Greenland .
Birds in Greenland oe

Moreau, R. E., and BENSON, C. W.
Cossypha insulana Grote “hee emma with eae ae Finsch and
Hartlaub He : us ihe

NorTH, M. E. W.
Tape recordings of Kenya Birds

PATERSON, Miss Mary. See SMITHERS, Reay H. N.

PiTMAN, Capt. Charles R. S.
A Strange Injury to a Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula tundrae Lowe)
Remarks on the Nidification of the Kenya Hill Chat Pinarochroa sordida
ernesti Sharpe
Some notes on Fox’s Swamp Warbler Calamocichla rufe: scens 1s foxi ( Sclater)

PITMAN, Capt. Charles R. S. See SerRLE, Dr. William

RANDALL, Dr. Keith, and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G.
A. Case of Avian Tuberculosis in a Wild Wigeon

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

ROBERTS, Hugh A.
Breeding Tactics of the two Honey-Guides—Jndicator indicator
_(Sparrman) and Indicator minor Stephens Bi uf

SAGE, Bryan L. .

On the occurrence of ‘‘ Mottled’’ plumage in the Carrion-Crow Corvus
corone corone Linnaeus .

A Summary of the known Geographical Distribution of “Mutant
**mottled’’ Rooks, Corvus frugilegus frugilegus Linnaeus i

A Note on Variation in the Colour of the Legs and Bess of the Wren,
Troglodyites troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus)

Notes on an aberrant Carrion-Crow Corvus corone corone Linnaeus
obtained in Hertfordshire ...

Wood-Pigeon Columba Pas palumbus Linnaeus with odd-coloured
eyes... ee

An nine Red-necked ‘Grebe

On some examples of Melanism in the Genus Parus Linnaeus

SERLE, Dr. William
The Birds of West Africa a
A New Race of Babbler from West Africa ..
Exhibition of Eggs of Charadrius forbesi (Shelley)
Notes on Anomalophrys superciliosus (Reichenow) in West Africa with
special reference to its nidification st lip ae
Taxonomic Notes on Cinnyris chloropygius (Jardine)

SERLE, Dr. William, and PITMAN, Capt. Charles R. S.
aoe ee the nidification of the Forest- Robin ae ornis erythrothorax
Hartlau a Me Ne ip ; A vf hy

SMITHERS, Reay H. N., and PATERSON, Miss Mary

New Geographical Races of Camaroptera fasciolata and Batis capensis
from Southern Rhodesia ie ey at j

145

114

85

119

Xi
Snow, Dr. D. W.
The specific status of the Willow Tit os sf oy sah 2 29

VESEY-FITZGERALD, D. F.
Nesting of the Tanganyika Masked-Weaver is ee oh oe ie |

WaykRe, Philip. See HARRISON, Dr. Jeffery G.

White, C. M. N.
Notes on African Larks io are ies ate a oT 2,'93,-120
Notes on the Systematics of African Bulbuls ae ae “A tia Ass
A new race of Swallow from Somaliland .... Bde os hie <2 NGS
WILLIAMS, John G.
A New Golden-winged Sunbird from Kenya oe Gee A sae 1qko0
On the Downy Young of Aythya erythrophthalma We Re sme RAD

The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, Sevenoaks

—_— —

BULLETIN

OF THE

PURCHASED

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

ARSE I
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Volume 76 January

No. | 1956

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“- *

BULLETIN’
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number |
Published: 2nd January, 1956

The five hundred and forty-fourth meeting was held at the Rembrandt
Hotel, South Kensington, on Tuesday, 13th December, 1955, following a
dinner at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: COLONEL MEINERTZHAGEN
Members present: 39; Guests 14; Total: 53.

The Chairman welcomed Messieurs Etchécopar and Hiie from France
and Dr. Taylor from the U.S.A.

A Redshank in Summer Plumage in Winter

Dr. Jeffery Harrison exhibited on behalf of Dr. James M. Harrison and
himself an Icelandic Redshank ° which had been collected on the Medway
Estuary, Kent on 9th November 1955 and which was in advanced, freshly
moulted summer plumage.

The bird was exhibited in view of the report in The Times (10.12.1955)
that Mr. John Williams had found similar examples in Siberian nesting
species on their return to Kenya this winter, the question of whether
radioactivity could account for this phenomenon having been raised. A
paper on this bird will appear in a later Bulletin.

The Birds of West Africa

Dr. William Serle spoke of the birds of eastern Nigeria and gave an
entertaining account of the early history of ornithology in the area, which »
was initiated by Royal Naval personnel on Niger River expeditions, the
names of Allen, Fraser and Thompson being prominent among the early
explorers. Their courage is reflected in the fact that there was a 30%
mortality on these early trips, due largely it seemed to somewhat misguided
medical advice. In 1886 Hartert was one of the first to ascend the Niger
and return fit. Although much excellent material had been collected, the
data was far from accurate and other collections had never been properly
examined and were now dispersed. This resulted in many difficulties for
the systematist.

Dr. Serle exhibited a number of eggs and birds, and several papers will
be appearing in subsequent Bulletins.

Vol. 76 2 1956
The Birds of Greenland

Colonel Meinertzhagen showed coloured slides taken on his recent
expedition to Greenland. Most were scenic or floral, the flowers being
demonstrated by Dr. Melderis, but the birds included a fine study of a
drake King Eider. A paper on the birds will appear later. Mr. Russell
Webbe showed slides taken both in Spitzbergen and east Greenland while
ringing Pink-footed, Barnacle and Brent Geese. Excellent pictures were
seen of all three species and the results of the Spitzbergen expedition have
already proved the origin of the western European (as distinct from the
British) populations of the Pink-footed Goose.

Notes on African Larks — Part I
by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE

Received 29th August, 1955.

The following notes dealing with certain species of the genus Mirafra are
the first part of a number of such studies of African larks. The genus
Mirafra contains a rather diverse assemblage of species which fall into
several well marked groups. The genus is characterised by its exposed
nostrils and well developed outer primary. As I pointed out in The Ibis:
1953. 687-89 the line between Mirafra and Certhilauda is very indistinct
and can only be drawn on an arbitrary basis. The following notes deal with
the first two of the well defined species groups which I recognise in the
African species of Mirafra.

1. True Mirafra: the genotype is M. javanica Horsfield to which I
attach the cantillans group and passerina as discussed below. The extensive
white on the outer tail feathers, non-descript sparrowy plumage, small
amount of rufous on the outer webs of the primaries and rather stout
conical bill characterise this group. The African species are all birds
of dry open country with grass and sparse trees. Three African species
of very similar general aspect can be assigned to this group.

Mirafra javanica races
2 cheniana and albicauda superspecies
a cordofanica

All three overlap to some extent in at least part of their ranges, although
some ecological separation seems likely to exist. Field studies are badly
needed to determine how far these three species exist together, how far
their behaviour in the field is distinctive, and how far their apparent close
structural relationship is possibly due to convergence or in fact reflects a
true phylogenetic relationship.

2. Pipit-like Mirafra: comparison of M.poecilosterna and M.gilletti
shows a very close structural relationship and similarity of proportions and
size ; in particular the absence of rufous on the wing or white on the tail is
noteworthy. I do not suggest that they be regarded as conspecific for more
data is needed to show how if at all they meet in southern Somalia but their
characters are such as to make it essential to associate them closely in any
arrangement of the genus, and should the genus be split, they would appear

1956 3 : Vol. 76

to be an obvious group to separate. M.rufa appears to me to be another
closely related species which should be placed with this group with which
it agrees in general characters and size and proportions. All three species
replace each other as far as is known in the arid country from the French
Sudan to north east Africa.

M.sabota is more strikingly distinct but shares the same characters of
lacking rufous on the wing and a dark tail. It is a stockier bird with shorter
tail in relation to the wing and heavier bill. Its close relationship to the
foregoing three species is not apparent but it agrees with them better than
with any other species of Mirafra in its wing and tail pattern and I propose
to place it after them in the genus as a whole. M.sabota appears to be a
characteristic of the older element in the fauna of southern Africa unless it
be regarded as a very distinct southern representative of the poecilosterna
group.

Mirafra javanica Horsfield.

Most writers now treat M.cantillans Blyth as a race of M.iavanica, and
if this view is adopted, the African forms long regarded as races of can-
tillans will have to be treated as races of javanica. Probably only close
acquaintance with both Asiatic and African forms could settle this question
satisfactorily, but in view of the present treatment of cantillans, and the
fact that previous writers have accepted the African forms as. conspecific
with cantillans, | propose to adopt javanica as the specific name.

This is probably an ancient species in view of its wide range from Aus-
tralia to southern Asia and Africa ; its general characters are unspecialised -
and spatrow-like with a short stout bill and white outer tail feather.

M.hova Hartlaub of Madagascar is closely allied, and although it may
be desirable to give it specific rank, it is in my view, derived from the
M. javanica stock, and forms part of the same superspecies. I believe it
to be one of the Oriental elements in the fauna of Madagascar.

M.passerina Gyldenstolpe of south western Africa is undoubtedly very
closely allied to the East African forms of M. javanica. Chapin (Bds.
Belgian Congo: 1953. pt. 3. p. 34) has already drawn attention to this
relationship. I have compared a series of M.passerina with a series of
M.j.marginata Hawker; I can see no obvious differences which could be
regarded as specific. M.passerina appears a slightly larger bird in general
appearance but measurements show considerable overlap. A comparison
of field descriptions of behaviour reveals no important differences. The
distribution is certainly no difficulty for a number of birds occur in dry
areas of East Africa and reappear in dry south western Africa with a gap
in their range in the better timbered central area of higher rainfall. I pro-
pose therefore to regard M. passerina as merely a southern African race of
M. javanica. The African forms will therefore now stand as:

Mirafra javanica marginata Hawker
99 96 chadensis Alexander
9 3 schillingsi Reichenow
fs “a passerina Gyldenstolpe

Mirafra cheniana Smith.
Chapin (l.c. p. 33) has already drawn attention to the close apparent
relationship of M.cheniana with the East African M.albicauda Reichenow.
Comparison of specimens of both species strongly supports his view.

Vol. 76 4 1956

Whether they should be regarded as conspecific is less easy to say. M
cheniana seems to indulge in low fluttering or circling song flights and
utters warbling or twittering calls. Field observations on M.albicauda refer
to a high soaring flight and fine song. I believe that are rightly to be re-
garded as a superspecies with a broken distribution in the better timbered
country of Central Africa such as was noted under the races of M. javanica.
However the gap in their ranges can be narrowed a little for M.cheniana
occurs in Southern Rhodesia whilst it is now known that a form of M.
albicauda occurs in the Rukwa depression of Tanganyika, far to the south
of its previous known southern limit at Tabora. This southern race differs
somewhat from typical M.albicauda and I propose to name it
Mirafra albicauda rukwensis subsp. nov.

Description: differs from nominate M.albicauda in being paler and greyer
on the feather edges of the upperside thus giving a colder appearance with
greater contrast with the black feather centres; margins of wing coverts
and secondaries notably pale, the latter almost white ; rufous margins of
primaries paler; underside whiter with less tawny or buff wash, breast
spotting reduced, under wing coverts paler; the penultimate outer tail
feather with less blackish on the inner web which becomes obsolete half
way to the apex, whereas in the typical form it reaches almost to the apex.

Type: male adult collected by D. Vesey-Fitzgerald at north end of
Rukwa depression, southern Tanganyika Territory on 22nd September,
1954. In my collection.

Measurements of type: wing 80, tail 47, bill from skull 14.5 mm.

Distribution: only known from the Rukwa depression.

Remarks: six specimens examined. A male collected in February is
labelled as having large gonads. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Desmond
Vesey-Fitzgerald of the International Red Locust Service for his kind
gift of these specimens.

Mirafra sabota Smith

This species lacks either white on the tail or rufous on the primaries,
and seems to occupy a rather isolated position in the genus. M. poecilos-
terna (Rchw.) shows some resemblance in similar wing and tail characters
but is very different in other respects and can hardly be regarded as very
closely related. I reviewed M. sabota in 1947 (The Ibis: pp. 421-22) with
a further note in 1948 (ibid. pp. 328-329). A little additional information
can be given now to fill in some of the gaps.

M. s. sabota Smith

The nominate form extends into southern Portuguese East Africa and
further material from Southern Rhodesia confirms the old records from
Matabeleland. These birds from Southern Rhodesia may be a little lighter
and brighter than birds from further south. Adequate material from the
whole area now included under the nominate form may justify subdivision.

M. s. bradfieldi (Rbts.)

In 1947 I was unable to trace the boundary between this and M. s. herero
(Rbts.) very accurately owing to lack of material. I have now examined
twelve from Warmbad, Great Karras mts., Keetmanshoop, and Seeheim
which are much too richly coloured and reddish above to assign to herero.
They agree well with bradfieldi which must be extended into the south east
of South West Africa.

1956 3 5 | . Vol. 76

M. s. herero (Rbts.)

Birds from Vogelweide, south of Aminuis, near the Bechuanaland
border are a little brighter and more yellowish above than others from the
interior of South West Africa but hardly sufficiently different to justify
naming. The north western limits of this race are not very clear; birds
from Omaruru and Usakos, assigned here in 1947, are not herero, and it
seems clear that herero fades into a slightly paler race in the north west.

M. s. uis Hoesch and Niethammer

This race is in a sense an intermediate between herero and naevia
Strickland. It is certainly rather buffier than naevia on the upperside and
wing margins, and rather iighter and less strongly marked above than
herero. | assign here birds from Erongo and Omaruru to the northern
Kaokoveld at Sanitatas. The Erongo population was further separated by
Hoesch and Niethammer but is not sufficiently distinct to justify separate
recognition; it agrees better with wis than with naevia.

M. s. naevia Strickland

There has been difficulty in fixing a type locality for this name but
Mr. J. D. Macdonald has made further examination of the type and
believes it should be restricted to the palest and least striped population
found south of Erongo to Otjimbinque. I have examined five recently
collected specimens from Usakos and Karibib which are paler less buffy
above than wis and less striped above, and represent the end of the cline
of palior in the north west of the range in South West Africa. Naevia is
well marked when compared with herero but no very clear line between
naevia and uis or between uis and herero can be drawn, and no violence to
taxonomy would result from treating wis as an intergrade not worth
separate recognition.

M. s. waibeli Grote

Three freshly collected topotypical specimens make it clear that the west
corner of Etoscha pan is occupied by a very distinct population, very
whitish on the upperside but with ae black streaking. Its distribution
remains to be worked out.

M. s. hoeschi Stresemann

In 1948 I placed M. s. elfriedae Hoesch and Niethammer from Onguma
as a synonym of waibeli as only two worn specimens were available and it
seemed likely that the greyer colour was due to abrasion. I now have three
fresh plumaged specimens from Onguma which show that birds from this
locality, less than one hundred miles east of the type locality of waibeli are
in fact much too dark and grayish brown to be placed under waibeli. Their -
distinction from hoeschi is less obvious and it will be as well to call birds
from east of Etoscha pan and north east of herero under a single name
until much more material is available.

The Ngamiland population

Roberts (Ann. Trvl. Mus. 1932. 16. p. 122) assigns an adult and a
juvenile from Lake Ngami to the pale sandy, small billed M. s. sabotoides
(Rbts.) of west Kalahari (Gemsbok pan). Mrs. Hall rightly points out
(in litt.) that a single Lake Ngami bird in the British Museum is more like
the dark birds of north east South West Africa, lacking the sandy tinge of
sabotoides, but not as dark as hoeschi. However I believe that the Ngami-
land population is distinct from either and propose to describe it as follows :

Vol. 76 7 6 1956

Mirafra sabota vesey-fitzgeraldi subsp. nov.

Description: differs from M. s. sabotoides in being duller and browner
above without the warm sandy tinge of that race ; in colour of the upper
side more like M. s. hoeschi but with a small bill as in the nominate race,
and lighter above than hoeschi with less heavy streaking ; the wing coverts
and secondaries with more reddish brown, less whitish margins than
hoeschi : the breast with a stronger brown wash than hoeschi.

Type : male adult in breeding condition collected by L. D. E. F. Vesey-
Fitzgerald at Dautsa, Ngamiland on 27th October, 1954. In my collection.

Measurements of type: wing 88, tail 50, bill from skull 16 mm.

Distribution : Ngamiland, Bechuanaland protectorate.

Remarks : itis unusual to find the larks of Ngamiland racially identical
with those of north east South West Africa, and they often differ racially
from the races of the western Kalahari. Search for this species should be
made in south east Angola or southern Barotseland for it is to those areas
that racial variation in Ngamiland is often most close.

Variation in bill size: As is well known M. sabota varies considerably in
bill size in various populations especially in South West Africa and
adjacent areas and this is due to both length and depth. This is often fairly
obvious to the eye but measurements reflect it less obviously. By measuring
the length of the bill and depth at the nostrils in a series, taking the averages
of these measurements and multiplying these averages the differences can
be expressed more clearly as a measure of comparison. E.g. in M. s.
bradfieldi. the bill from the skull measures 18-20, the depth 6.5—7 mm.
The averages multiplied are 131. In herero, naevia and uis the length runs
from 17.5-19 and depth 5.5—7 but the generally slighter bill is reflected in
the averages multiplied out which only reach 110. The much smaller bill
of the Ngamiland bird on this basis multiplies to 88 mm. waibeli, elfriedae
and hoeschi agree with herero.

Remarks on the Rock and Speckled Pigeons,
Columba livia Linnaeus, and C. guinea Linnaeus

by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN
Received 19th August, 1955

Columba livia and C. guinea are allopatric throughout most of their world
ranges, although they occur together in parts of the Sudan (Lynes 1925)
and West Africa (Bannerman 1931). Superficially they differ much in
appearance, each showing more apparent resemblance to other species of,
respectively, the palearctic and ethiopian regions. A closer scrutiny suggests
however, that C. guinea may be more nearly related to C. /ivia than are
any other species of Columba (except of course the Blue Hill Pigeon, C.
rupestris Pallas. I propose here to compare the characters of these species
with those of other congeneric pigeons found in the same or nearby geo-
graphical areas.

The two are dissimilar in colour and colour pattern, but all the charac-
ters in which C. guinea differs from C. /ivia in this respect are to be found
in some of the domestic and/or feral forms of C. livia. C. livia shows con-
siderable resemblance in colouration to the Stock Dove, C. oenas Linnaeus,

1956 | 7 ; Vol. 76

and the Yellow-eyed Stock Dove C. eversmanni Bonaparte, and to a lesser
degree C. guinea shows some resemblance to the Somaliland Pigeon, C.
olivae Stephenson Clarke, and the Olive Pigeon, C. arquatrix Temminck.
These seem to be examples of the frequent tendency for related forms in
the same general geographical area to show convergence in colour or
structure, rather than evidence of particularly close affinity. In the general
greyish colour of head and body and in the colour and markings of the
tail C. livia and C. guinea are, of course, much alike, but C. oenas, C.
eversmanni, C. albitorques Rippell, and C. olivae also resemble them in
this.

Most species of Co/umba show areas on the neck where the plumage
differs in colour and structure, having been modified for use in the bowing
display. In C. guinea and C. livia (and C. rupestris) this display plumage
completely encircles the neck and is especially noticeable on the upper
breast. In all the other species mentioned above, the display plumage is
concentrated on the back and sides ot the neck, being absent or only
slightly developed in front. Structurally the irridescent neck feathers of
these three species differ from those of all other of Columba in being
bifurcated. This bifurcation is least in C. rupestris and most developed in
C. guinea. Owing to their similar texture and relative stiffness, the display
feathers of the White-collared Pigeon, C. a/bitorques bear much resem-
blance to those of C. guinea. This seems to be another case of convergence
in general appearance, as they are very different in form.

Distribution of display-plumage (shaded in) on necks of C. oenas, C. livia and
C. guinea in normal position (top row) and with neck inflated and display plumage
erected in the bowing-display (bottom row).

i
N

ed la

Feathers from the display-plumage on the necks of (L. to R.) C. olivae, C. rupestris,
C. liviaand C. guinea. Only the indescent areas are shaded,

Vol. 76 8 1956

The large area of bare red orbital skin of C. guinea is but an extreme
development of a character shown to some degree by the other Columba of
the Ethiopian regions. It is of interest that in two of these—C. unicincta
Cassin, and C. olivae— the orbital skin is also red. but it is doubtful if
this indicates any close affinity. C. olivae’s closest relatives are almost
certainly C. oenas and C. eversmanni. It is a ‘‘Rock Pigeon’’ only as far
as habitat is concerned (as is C. oenas in many places) and indeed its
environment is such that it could hardly be otherwise. As in the case of
plumage colouration, so in the case of the orbital skin, C. guinea can be
paralleled by some domestic breeds of C. /ivia which have red or
greatly enlarged areas of bare skin around the eyes. In these, however,
it assumes the monstrous character common to the results of artificial,
as opposed to natural, selection.

Thus the morphological characters wherein C. guinea and C. livia differ
do not appear to be very fundamental. Apart from the obvious similari-
ties of form and structure, which might be due to convergence owing to
their similar ecology, they share (together with C. rupestris) a structure
and distribution of display plumage not found in other Columba species.
It is pertinent to consider briefly the extent to which characters other than
the taxonomic ones confirm or deny the suggestion of the close relation-
ship of the two species.

Work on the blood antigens of C. oenas, C. livia, C. guinea C. palumbus
Linnaeus, C. jathina Temminck, and some American species led those
engaged theron (Cumley and Irwin 1942) to conclude that the Speckled
Pigeon was biochemically more closely related to the Wood Pigeon than
to the Rock Pigeon. If so, it seems to me possible that this is due to these
two species having remained closer to the blood type of a common ancestor
rather than to having diverged from such a common stock at a later period
than C. /ivia.

The incubation and fledging periods of C. guinea are shorter than those of
C. livia and agree more nearly with those of C. oenas and C. albitoruges.
This might perhaps reflect selection, due to C. /ivia being less liable to
nest-predation, rather than degrees of relationship. In this connection
it would be interesting to compare incubation and fledging rates of the
various wild races of C. livia both with each other and with domestic
varieties. In the case of the Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, it is
well-known that eggs of the domestic forms usually take 28 days to hatch,
whereas those of wild Mallard take only 25 or 26. Two young, pure-bred,
C. l. livia, at present in my possession, commenced to fly at an earlier stage
of development than young domestic C. /ivia normally do.

In its voice and displays C. guinea is certainly closer to C. livia than it
is to any other pigeon known to me. Indeed except for that by which C.
livia exhibits the black bars on its wings, there is hardly a display movement
which is not shown in very similar, usually almost identical, form by both.
This seems most unlikely to be due to convergence, especially in view of
the fact that C. albitorques and C. leuconota Vigors, which are also rock-
haunting species, differ in this respect from them (Taibel 1954, Newman
1911) and display more similarly to C. palumbus and C. oenas.

To sum up, it may be said that some morphological characters, the voice ,

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:
:
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1956 9 | Vol. 76

‘and most behaviour-patterns of C. guinea and C. livia suggest a closer

relationship between these two, than between either and any other species,
with the exception for C. /ivia of its relative C. rupestris. The only evidence
to the contrary is their difference in blood composition.

References

Bannerman, D. 1931. Birds of Tropical West Africa. Vol. 11: 318-324.

Cumley, R. W. and Irwin, M. R. 1944. The correlation between anti genic composi- —
tion and geographical range in the Old and New World, of some species of Columba:
Amer. Nat. 78, 1944: 100-103. |

Lynes, H. 1925. On the birds of North and Central Darfur, with notes on the West-
Central Kardofan and North Nuba Province of British Sudan. (bis 1: 12a Ser. P. 572—
574.

Newman, T. H. 1911. The Snow Pigeon, Avic. Mag. 11. 6: 173-178.

Taibel, A. M. 1954. Notizie sulla riproduzione in cattivita del Colombo dal collare
bianco (Columba albitorques Ruppell Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia 1954 (Seconda
serie) : 195-203.

Note on an alleged specimen of Hylocichla u. ustulata
Nuttall, from British Guiana

by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN

Received 2nd September, 1955

Hellmayr (Catalogue of the birds of the Americas and the adjacent
islands in Field Museum of Natural History, Pt.7, 1934, p.457) states in
a footnote: ““Records of the Russet-backed Thrush from South America
are obviously due to confusion with Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni. Salvin
(Ibis 1885 p.197) claims that a single specimen obtained by H. Whiteley
on 6th December, 1881 at Roraima, British Guiana, is referable to H.u.
ustulata. Although the identification has been corroborated by Sharpe
(Monog. Turd. |. p.176) and Chubb (Bds. Brit. Guiana 2, p.389, 1921)
the example needs careful re-examination before this extraordinary record
can be accepted’’.

The specimen referred to is in the national collection, Brit. Mus. reg.
no. 1885:3:2:90. In the course of re-arranging the thrushes it has now
been re-examined, with results that amply confirm Hellmayr’s doubts.
It is, in fact, a Grey-cheeked Thrush, Hylocichla m. minima Lafresnaye.

_It may have been originally misidentified because the upper parts are more

reddish brown in colour than other specimens of H. minima, although in
this respect it is almost as unlike typical specimens of H. ustulata. The
reddish tones may be due to ‘‘foxing’’. However, the specimen shows
quite clearly the principal specific characters of H. minima, namely whitish
eye-ring and lores and lack of buffy suffusion on throat and cheeks. Also
British Guiana is within the normal wintering range of H. minima.

Vol. 76 10 1956

A New Race of Phylloscopus umbrovirens (Ruppell)
from the Juniper Forests of Northern British Somaliland

by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY
Received 15th July, 1955

Sclater, “‘Systema Avium A&thiopicarum’’, part I, 1930, p. 506, and
Chapin, ‘‘Birds of the Belgian Congo’’, vol. III, 1953, p. 477, place the
northern British Somaliland populations of the small leaf-warbler
Phylloscopus (=Seicercus) umbrovirens (Riippell) as referable to the race
P. u. omoensis (Neumann), 1905: Banka, Omo River region, south-western
Abyssinia, while other workers have placed them as nominate P. umbroy-
irens, which was described in 1840 from Simen, in central Abyssinia. At the
request of my colleague, Mr. J. G. Williams, Ornithologist of the Coryndon
Memorial Museum, Nairobi, I have recently studied a meticulously
prepared series of specimens from Erigavo, northern British Somaliland, in
conjunction with material of the races P.u. umbrovirens, P. u. omoensis,
P. u. mackenzianus (Sharpe), 1892: Kikuyu, Kenya Colony, and P. u.
yemenensis (Ogilvie-Grant), 1913: Manacha, Yemen. | find that the
Erigavo birds differ markedly from the races listed on important and
significant colour and dimensional characters. They are obviously not the
same as either nominate P. umbrovirens or the more saturated southern
Abyssinian race, P. u. omoensis, as claimed by authors, and I believe that
they represent a well-defined new race which is restricted in its distribution
to the juniper forests crowning the high escarpment of northern British
Somaliland.

Phylloscopus umbrovirens williamsi, subsp. nov.

Type: & adult.-Juniper forest 10 miles north of Erigavo, northern
British Somaliland. Collected by J. G. Williams. 27th February, 1954. To be
deposited in the collection of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), London.

Diagnosis: Differs from the Abyssinian traces P. u. umbrovirens and
P. u. omoensis (P. u. erythreae (Salvadori), of northern Abyssinia and
Eritrea, I have not examined), in being darker, browner and rather more
uniformly coloured above. Ventrally much paler, with little or no brown
wash on the throat and upper breast. Wings with no yellow on the lesser
and median coverts and with less yellow on the primary and secondary
coverts, remiges and tertials. Less yellow on the rectrices, and bill longer,
i.e., 13-14 mm. as against 12-13 mm. in the races mentioned.

P. u. yemenensis of south-western Arabia is rather similar to the
nominate race but differs in having the dorsal surfaces uniform—in

P.u. umbrovirens the mantle is paler and greyer than the crown and nape— ~

and from it the new race here described can be differentiated on characters
similar to those enumerated in the comparison with P. u. umbrovirens and
P. u. omoensis.

From P. u. mackenzianus of Kenya Colony P. u. williamsi differs in being
darker on the upper-parts; in showing much less yellow on the wings and
tail; and in having the sides of the head and body less brownish, and the
under tail-coverts are not yellowish. The bill is also longer than in

1956 11 : Vol. 76

P. u. mackenzianus.

Range: Known only from the juniper forest in the vicinity of Erigavo,
northern British Somaliland, but almost certainly widely distributed
throughout the forest capping the northern Somaliland escarpment.

Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 55.5, culmen from base 14,
tarsus 20.5, tail 44 mm.

Material: The Type and four paratypes. The Type to be deposited in
the British Museum (Nat. Hist.); three paratypes in the Coryndon
Museum collection; one paratype in the Durban Museum collection.

Remarks: P. u. williamsi differs from all its geographical congeners in
the reduced amount of yellow on the wings, darker upper-parts, and paler,
less brownish, ventral surfaces. The bill is also longer and there is a trend
towards greater over all size, which is most marked in the average greater
tail-length of the males, j.e., 50-52 mm. as against 44--50 mm. in 3¢ of the
other races examined.

I am deeply indebted to Mr. Williams, who collected the specimens, for
kindly allowing me to describe the new race in his honour. I am also
grateful to Mr. J.D. MacDonald, Keeper of the Bird Room, British Museum
(Nat. Hist.), London, and Dr. A. L. Rand, Curator of Birds, Chicago
Natural History Museum, for the prompt way my requests for the loan of
comparative material were met, and to Dr. James P. Chapin for looking
over the series in conjunction with me.

On Phyiloscopus trochilus (Linn.) in Great Britain

by Mr. ALFRED HAZELWOOD AND Mr. ERIC GORTON
Received 12th July, 1955

Clancey has shown (British Birds XLII1 p. 188) that examples of
Phylloscopus trochilus (L.) from Scotland are not to be distinguished from
the grey-brown birds which occur in Scandinavia and which he attributes
to P. t. acredula (L.).

A series of spring birds from Scotland in the Bolton Museum collection
supports Clancey’s statement except inasmuch that a few extreme examples
resemble in colour, though not in size, the eastern race P. t. yakutensis
Ticehurst. These birds are grey-brown dorsally, except for a tinge of green
on the rump and quite without yellow below, apart from a tinge on the
under-wing coverts (in one even this is missing).

Ticehurst (A Systematic Review of the Genus Phylloscopus, British
Museum, Nat. Hist. 1938), however, shows that the name acredula—'
eversmanni Bonaparte is to be referred not to the brown and white birds
but to the brightly coloured olivaceous form which fringes the nomino-
typical race on the north and east, although subsequently treating both
forms as phases of acredula.

It is our view that the P. trochilus populations are best regarded as two
separate, now rejungent, forms which survived the ultimate Glacial period
in segregate pockets and which spread differentially northwards during
post-glacial climatic changes. This contention is supported by their
different winter quarters. If we associate the re-entry of the grey-brown
and white yakutensis-type populations with the Boreal phase, accompany-
ing the northward spread of Pinus sylvestris L., and that it gave way before

Vol. 76 12 1956

the typical, deciduous tree haunting, race during the Atlantic phase up
to about the limit of the 16° C isotherm for July, then the present day
distribution of the two plumage-phases and the zone of their intergradation
is wholly understandable. The situation is largely paralleled by the two
plumage phases of Corvus cornix L. -

Under this hypothesis, P. trochilus acredula (L.) sensu strictu would be
reserved for the large, pale, olivaceous birds which represent the terminal
form of a gentle cline of the green phase which extends from the Mediter-
ranean to Scandinavia. We have examined specimens of this race from
Skana, Oslo and Nerike in Sweden.

In Great Britain, a series of spring birds from Sussex to Sutherland-
shire shows a reasonably constant green form in the South of England,
a small number of clear-cut grey-brown and white birds from Scotland
(Perthshire, Inverness and Fife) and a steadily intergrading population
from Lancashire northwards into Scotland whence we have seen no
examples of pure P. trochilus trochilus.

It follows that the brown and white birds which have been taken on
passage in England cannot be referred to P. t. acredula and many are
probably of Scottish origin. It is often extremely difficult in the North
of England to separate passage migrants from resident birds during the
short period in which they are sufficiently unworn to be of critical use.

Clancey has already (ut supra) limited the type locality of Phylloscopus
trochilus trochilus L. (Motacilla trochilus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10,
1758, p.188 — ex Fauna Suecica, Aldrovani, Willughby) to England south
of the Thames. Since no type specimen exists, we deem it expedient to
erect a neotype as follows:

Phylloscopus trochilus trochilus Linn
Neotype A 3 from Sevenoaks, Kent, April 14th, 1937. Ex Coll. Dr.
J. G. Harrison, now in Coll. British Museum (Nat. Hist.)

Forecrown to upper tail coverts yellowish-olive, the crown and hind-
neck faintly streaked umber--brown, rump and upper tail coverts a shade
brighter than mantle. Supercilium dull yellow, lores and ear-coverts dull
bistre-brown, cheeks brownish-yellow. Chin and throat dingy white,
faintly washed reed yellow. Breast deepens from dingy white streaked
yellow at centre to yellow suffused buff at sides. Belly dingy white, streaked
and suffused reed yellow at flanks. Under tail coverts pale lemon yellow.
All wing and tail feathers dull brown, fringed on outer edges yellowish
olive. Under wing coverts, axillaries and tibial feathering bright lemon
yellow.

Wing 68 mm. 2nd primary barely exceeds 6th. 3rd, 4th & Sth emargi-
nate on outer web.

It is important to note that not only, in a zone of intergradation,
phenotypes of fixed races are likely to be thrown up by ordinary genetic
recombination but also that the zone itself is liable to alter in depth and
situation with oscillations of the climate. It may well be, for instance,
that the birds of this species known to Linnaeus at Uppsala would not
be consonant with examples: from the same locality today.

For these reasons, it seems to us that until nomenclatoral practice attains
a much required greater degree of flexibility it were better to refer to inter-
mediate populations only binomially since the appearance of any individual

1956 13 | Vol. 76

may have Mendelian rather than subspecific significance. It would
be possible to denote such mixed poulations by the addition of the coined
word “‘miscegens’’ after the authority. Thus, Willow Warblers from Scot-
land would be referable to as Phylloscopus trochilus L. miscegens.

We must ackowledge our indebtedness to Col. Meinertzhagen for
help and advice, to Dr. J. G. Harrison for the loan of materia] from Scot-
land and Western Europe and for very kindly supplying a fresh sound
skin from the restricted type locality, also to Mr. E. L. Seyd for access to
the Continental material in the Manchester Museum.

Map to show approximate line of 16°C isotherm.

On the occurrence of ‘‘Mottled’’ plumage in the Carrion-Crow ©
Corvus corone corone Linnaeus

by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE
Received 22nd September, 1955

The occurrence of individuals, usually juveniles, with mottled or barred
plumage in various local populations of the Rook (Corvus frugilegus
_ frugilegus Linnaeus) is now a well known phenomenon (see Antea 69:
117-118; 70: 7 and 18-19), but there does not appear to be any previous
published record of the occurrence of this condition in other species of the
genus Corvus. |

Vol. 76 14 1956

It was therefore with considerable interest that I received from Mr. I. J.
Ferguson-Lees the wing of a Carrion-Crow exhibiting this condition, which
had been shot at Cotheridge, Worcestershire, on 17th March, 1955, sex
not recorded, and sent to him by Mr. A. J. Harthan. This wing is generally
of a brownish shade (as is often the case with the aberrant Rooks), and
there is a wide brownish-white bar extending across both webs of most of
the primaries, secondaries and greater wing coverts. These bars are sub-
terminal being situated some 5—7 mm. from the tip of the feather.

This wing is additionally interesting in that the date the bird was shot
precludes the possibility of it being juvenile. This fact coupled with the
stage of growth of the feather suggests that it was a bird in first summer
plumage. All aberrant specimens of the Rook obtained so far have been
juveniles, and there has previously been only circumstantial evidence to
suggest that the condition can persist beyond the juvenile stage.

Mr. A. J. Harthan states (in /itt) that on 24th March, 1940, he trapped
5 Jackdaws (Corvus monedula spermologus Vieillot) and one Rook with
similar brown colouring on wings, back and tail feathers; these feathers
had paler markings but not anywhere near white. Mr. I. J. Ferguson-Lees
informs me (in /itt) that he saw a dead Crow, similar to the 1955 Worcester-
shire bird, at Clophill, Bedfordshire, in mid-March 1945. All these must
have been at least one year old.

A word of warning on the subject of aberrant brown-plumaged birds
may not be out of place. It is well known fact amongst aviculturists that a
diet deficiency in the nestling stage can often result in a juvenile Corvine
bird having brown plumage to a lesser or greater extent, these birds usually
moult out the normal colour. Mr. Derek Goodwin informs me that this
condition is of quite common occurrence in the Jackdaw, the birds usually
appearing a unicolorous brown. It is safe to assume that the same remarks
apply to other normally black-plumaged members of the Corvidae. There is
a record (Zoologist 1885: 349) of a Carrion Crow of a warm umber-brown
colour which was seen by Mr. J. Marshall in a taxidermists; no doubt this
bird had suffered from a diet deficiency. When dealing with such aberrant
birds care must be taken not to confuse the two conditions. Generally
speaking the less common aberration takes the form of regular barring of
a grey or whitish-brown shade; whilst birds suffering from a diet deficiency
are normally a brownish shade all over with mottling, if present at all, in
a slighter lighter shade of the same brown.

The races of Whyte’s Barbet

by Mr. C. W. BENSON
Received 30th September, 1955

I have had access to all the material of Whyte’s Barbet Buccanodon
whytii Sharpe, in the British Museum and in the National Museum of
Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo. I am also grateful to Dr. G. Rudebeck and
Dr. J. M. Winterbottom for loan of the material in the Transvaal and
South African Museums respectively.

In B. w. stresemanni Grote, and B. w. buttoni White, the brown feathers
of the back and mantle tend to be more markedly tipped with white than
in the southern races, Also, on the whole they are rather more distinctly

1956 15 : Vol. 76

glossy blue-black rather than blackish slate on the nape, throat and upper
chest, while in Southern Rhodesia wing-measurements tend to be rather
long. But it is in the colour of the crown and forehead, and cheek-stripe,
that geographical variation is most clearly marked, and on this basis I
propose the following arrangement of races:

Buccanodon whytii sowerbyi (Sharpe).

Stactolaema sowerbyi Sharpe, Bull. B.O.C., 7, 1898, p. 36: Fort
Chiquaqua, 18 miles E.S.E. of Salisbury (see “‘Ibis’’, 1898, pp. 568, 572).

Crown and forehead wholly pale yellow; cheek-stripe white. Wing
95 mm. in two specimens from Southern Rhodesia; wing 90-96, average
92.3 mm., in remainder from further north.

Range: Fort Chiquaqua and Mazoe, north-eastern Southern Rhodesia;
in eastern Northen Rhodesia and Nyasaland, plateau country between
Nyasa/Shire and Luangwa Rifts, from Dedza and Fort Jameson north to
the Mukutu Mts. at approx 10° 30’ S., 33° 30’ E.

Material: British Museum, 17; Bulawayo Museum, 6; Transvaal
Museum, 4; South African Museum, 1.

Buccanodon whytii irwini, new race. -

Differs from B. w. sowerbyi Sharpe in having only the sides of the crown
and forehead wholly pale yellow, the centre being-blackish slate with only
inconspicuous tipping of pale yellow; cheek-stripe white. Wing 92-98,
average 95.5 mm.

Range: Eastern Southern Rhodesia, Melsetter to Inyanga and north-
west to Rusape and Macheke (18° 10’ S., 31° 52’ E.).

Type: 3. Rusape, Southern Rhodesia: 18° 32’ S., 32° 07’ E. 24th May
1953. Collected by Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin. Collector’s No. R4/16. In the
National Museum, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. N.M. Reg. No. 12284.

Measurements of Type: Wing 98, tail 55, culmen from base 20mm.

_ Material: British Museum, 3; Bulawayo Museum, 11; South African
Museum, 2.

| Remarks: Named after the collector. I must also point out that it was
| Mr. R.H.N. Smithers who first drew my attention to the difference between
| B. w. sowerbyi and B. w. irwini. That Nyasaland and eastern Northern
| Rhodesia birds should be B. w. sowerbyi, while further south in Southern
Rhodesia there should be a distinct race, is most extraordinary, because the
| two populations are separated by the low-lying Zambesi Valley, where it is
| unlikely that B. w. sowerbyi occurs. Moreover, there appears to be no
| barrier between B. w. sowerbyi and B. w. irwini. However, the situation is
| no more remarkable than in Arizelocichla milanjensis (Shelley), which occurs
/in the highlands of eastern Southern Rhodesia and at Mlanje, southern
| Nyasaland as A. m. milanjensis. But a short distance to the west of Mlanje,
} at Cholo and near Blantyre, it is replaced by A. m. striifacies (Reichw. and
| Neum.). Except for four specimens in the British Museum showing some
| tendency towards B. w. irwini, the northern series of twenty-six are exactly
| like the type of B. w. sowerbyi, in the British Museum. And the only other
|specimen of B. w. sowerbyi from Southern Rhodesia, at Mazoe, 17° S.,
31° 50’ E., also in the British Museum, seems slightly intermediate, having
jrather pronounced slaty towards the base of the yellow feathers on the
‘centre of the crown and forehead. But it is more like B. w. sowerbyi than
|B. w. irwini, The difference between B. w. sowerbyi and B. w. irwini, however,

(7, 7t ee n 4)
Vode -:: * “62 any YS 1956

Lege
is so relatively constant that it DRESS: not to recognise it by name.
Captain C. H. B. Grant agrees.

Buccanodon whytii whytii (Shelley)

Smilorhis whytii Shelley, ‘‘Ibis’’, 1893, p. 11: Zomba, Nyasaland.

Whole crown and forehead blackish slate, conspicuously and finely

spotted with white; cheek-stripe white. Wing 90-95, average 92.5 mm.

Range: Southern Nyasaland east of the Nyasa/Shire Rift, from Mlanje
and Blantyre to Mangoche.

Material: British Museum, 13

Remarks: Plate I, ‘‘Ibis’’, 1893 shows the characters of this race well,
which are constant in all specimens. Separated from B. w. sowerbyi by hot,
low-lying country in the Zambesi and Shire Valleys.

Buccanodon whytii stresemanni Grote.

Buccanodon anchietae stresemanni Grote, O.M., 1934, p. 86: Kitungulu,
south end of Lake Tanganyika.

Crown and forehead as in B. w. sowerbyi, but cheek-stripe pale yellow.
Wing 90-94, average 91.6 mm.

Range: North-eastern Northern Rhodesia and south-western Tanga-
yika Territory, from Mporokoso, Luwingu, and Kasama to Isoka,
Tunduma and Sumbawanga.

Material: British Museum, 8, Bulawayo Museum, 12

Remarks: Characters constant in all specimens. There is no geograph-
ical barrier between B. w. stresemanni and B. w. sowerbyi. Intergrades
should be sought for in the Karonga district, northern Nyasaland, where I
have seen the species, but failed to obtain specimens.

Buccanodon whytii buttoni White

Buccanodon sowerbyi buttoni White, Bull. B.O.C., 65, 1945, p. 18: Ndola,
Northern Rhodesia.

Crown and forehead as in B. w. irwini, but centre darker, bluish black
rather than blackish slate; cheek-stripe pale yellow. Wing 90-93 mm.

Range: Ndola and Kawambwa, Northern Rhodesia.

Material: British Museum, 1; Bulawayo Museum, 2.

Remarks: As already indicated, the difference in the colour of the
centre of the crown and forehead from B. w. irwini, is also apparent on the
nape, throat and upper chest. B. w. buttoni should intergrade with B. w.
stresemanni between Kawambwa and Mporokoso/Luwingu.

General Remark: It is clear that Buccanodon anchietae Bocage is specifi-

cally distinct from B. whytii, B. a. katangae Vincent and B. w. buttoni —

overlapping at Ndola, see White, Bull. B.O.C. 65, 1945, p. 18. But although
I have examined a specimen of B. a. katangae in the South African Museum
from further east, in the Serenje district, and it has also been obtained by
Major W. E. Poles and myself on the south-east side of the Bangweulu
swamps, at approx. 11° 40’ S., 30° 40’ E., there 1s no evidence that B. w.
stresemanni overlaps with B. a. katangae.

P.S. Dr. H. Schouteden has also shown me in the Congo Museum,
Tervuren, two specimens of B. w. sowerbyi from Salisbury and Marandellas,
wings 92.5, 95 mm.; and three of B. w. irwini from Wedza, wings 93, 94,
97 mm. These specimens show the difference between the two races quite

well. They were collected by Captain C. D. Priest, except that from —

Salisbury, by D. Townley.

Notices

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BULLETIN.

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

Volume 76 February
No. 2 1956

1956 Vi. Vol. 76

BULLETIN
| OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number 2
Published: 2nd February, '956

The five hundred and forty-fifth meeting was held at the Rembrandt
Hotel, South Kensington, on Tuesday, 17th January, 1956, following a
dinner at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: MAJOR GENERAL C. B. WAINWRIGHT.
Members present: 27; Guests 8; Total: 35.

Tape Recordings of Kenya Birds

Mr. M. E. W. North played an interesting series of tape recordings of
twenty six species of Kenya birds. Recordings of two morphologically
indistinguishable groups of Cisticolae revealed that they had totally
different songs. Another Cisticola was shown to possess eight phrasic
variations to its song. The Mourning Dove has three calls—the song
proper, a greeting and an alighting call. Two species of Hornbill, the
Yellow-billed and Von de Decken’s have identical calls.

Birds in Greenland

by COLONEL R. M. MEINERTZHAGEN
Received 13th December, 1955

When at sea the Fulmar is by far the most abundant bird, either sitting
on the water in small rafts or floating over the surface. At the mouth of
Disko Fjord is a huge colony of some 40,000 birds, nests being placed on
_ grassy ledges and as high as 1200 feet above sea level. Young were just
| hatching in mid-July. We found the fulmar feeding when sitting on the
| surface when the sun begins to get near the horizon and again when the
| sun commences to rise at dawn. Their main food seems to be squid
| which come to the surface at these periods to feed on plankton. Of many
| Fulmar examined, only one failed to produce the beaks of squid ; these
| beaks appear not to be passed out with the faeces but slowly dissolve in
| the stomach and may possibly be used to aid digestion. Occasionally
| we saw Fulmar feeding at mid-day when sitting on the water ; they would
dive from a floating position, the longest dive being seven seconds,

About 1 per cent of birds seen were the melanic phase.

Vol. 76 18 1956

When we went shark fishing the number of Fulmar which assembled
round our boat for refuse and guts was incredible, just a huge mass of birds
fighting and scrambling for offal. And they were so tame that with a
landing net we might have picked them out by the dozen. One or two
glaucous gulls which tried to get an odd scrap of offal, completely failed
to get anything amid the splashing and scrapping that went on amid the
rafts of fulmar.

We found Fulmar in full wing moult in June and July, many birds being
unable to fly.

On several occasions as if by a given signal a whole party of fulmar
floating over the sea surface. would start the glide-and-paddle flight, just
touching the water with their feet— ‘“peterelling’ ’—with a running motion ;
birds appeared to accelerate by this method for they would rise again,
glide for perhaps a few hundred yards and then suddenly the whole party
would resume peterelling. Possibly this method of flight was due to some
atmospheric change, though we could not detect any.

It has been suggested by Erickson (Auk LXXII, 1955 p. 419) that this
peterelling is order-wide and of genetic origin, the ancestral Procellariformes
finding flapping flight difficult near the sea surface and adopted peterel-
ling as an anxiliary means of propulsion. In the Oceanodroma group
peterelling is the rule; in other groups the habit is more or less lost
completely.

We found the Great Shearwater abundant off the south coast of
Greenland in June and off the south-west coast in August. They were
sitting on the sea in huge rafts of from 20 to 50 birds, their white tail
bands and pointed wings being conspicuous. They appeared to be in
full wing moult, many unable to fly.

Theirs is a splendid example of navigation without landmarks, coming,
as they do, all the way from Tristan Da Cunha (their only known breeding
ground) to this far away spot in the north Atlantic.

It needs to be explained why the Great Shearwater moults in its winter
quarters, whilst the Fulmar moults when the young are hatching. Red-
throated divers were seen on several occasions, often circling our boat at
a great height and calling their wonderful wild note.

Geese are mainly confined to the east coast. But we did see a small
flock of White-fronts a few miles north of Egedesmunde. A single drake
Mallard in eclipse was seen in Disko Fjord in late June. Long-tailed
Duck were common in family parties and going into eclipse in July.

The Common Eider breeds on Disko Island and is common though its
numbers have been sadly reduced in recent years by the Greenlanders.
King Eider are also abundant and have a special locality for their moult—
off Flakerhuk. They breed much further north but after egg-laying the
drakes come south in huge packs, accompanied by non-breeding birds
and in July we saw them in hundreds though none had as yet (late July)
lost their primaries.

The King Eider feeds in deeper water than the Common Eider and eats
a coarser food (larger crabs and shells, though the Common Eider is the
larger bird. We find much the same preference for shallow water in the
larger Cormorant and deeper water for the smaller Shag.

The Merganser was not uncommon and several broods were seen and
one chick obtained. The toothed or rather serrated mandibles are very

1956 LM Vol. 76

well developed in the chick. These serrations are not teeth in the sense
that reptiles have them but they are a beautiful example of convergent
development.

The Gannet was seen all the way from the Faroe Islands to within about
a hundred miles of Greenland where they do not breed. :

The Cormorant has several small colonies on Disko Island but is badly~
persecuted for its skin. Colonies where many hundreds of birds used/to
nest have dwindled down to a few pairs. Half-grown young were iny ‘the
nests in late July. Adults were extremely wary, flying off at a 2 erat S
distance so soon as a boat is sighted.

Cormorants have both roosting and resting places to which birds
resort for sleep and wing-drying ; these are in separate localities, the
roosting places being fewer and therefore more crowded than the resting
places. The largest resting place I have seen was on top of the royal
palace in Constantinople which was badly white-washed despite the
efforts of the fire brigade to make the birds desist. We saw one of these
resting places on Disko Island, but only some twenty birds were using it.
We were told that only a few years ago many hundreds used it.

Persecution in and out of the breeding season has made the Ptarmigan
a comparatively rare bird, but even so, the few we saw were ridiculously
tame.

I had expected to find Greenland alive with many wading birds but
though many breed far inland there are few places on the coast suitable
for them. Towards the end of July migration started and small parties
were seen in suitable places—a few Sanderling, several parties of Dunlin
and many flocks of Red-necked Phalarope ; these latter breed on the
islands between Disko and the mainland. Turnstone and Purple Sand-
piper were fairly common but not a sign of any American wader.

We saw several Great Skuas at sea in mid-June and up to 100 miles
west of Fair Isle and the Faroe Islands but not in Greenland waters. Off
the west coast of Greenland and out of sight of land we saw several
Pomatorhine Skuas in June and at Flakkerhuk on Disko Island both
Pomatorhine, Long-tailed and Arctic Skua were breeding on the outskirts
of a huge Arctic Skua colony ; the Long-tailed seemed to be the most.
abundant. The terns paid no attention to them unless they had food and
this they would swallow as quick as they could. As all the chicks of the
tern had been taken by the Greenlanders there was no carrying of food
and the skuas would go to sea to pirate the terns. I noted that the three
species of skua had great respect for each other, the smaller always giving
way to the larger if both were in action against a tern. One particularly
obstinate tern, refusing to drop his fish, was struck by a Pomatorhine
Skua and fell into the sea stunned.

Several pairs of the Greater Black-backed Gull were breeding on Disko
Island but were none too common. A single pair of the British Lesser
Black-backed Gull were seen about five miles west of Godhavn in early
July. It will be remembered that the first description of this gull was
given to a Greenland specimen (Larus affinis).

The Glaucous and Iceland Gulls are quite common and breeding on
Disko Island. The best distinguishing features in the field is the more
buoyant flight, faster wing-beat and more graceful flight of the Iceland ;
when at rest the wings of the Iceland protrude well beyond the tail which

Vol. 76 20 1956

is not the case in the Glaucous. When seen together the larger and
heavier Glaucous can be at once recognised.

Both these gulls regularly patrol the Kittiwake and Fulmar colonies,
taking every advantage of parental absence.

The two largest Arctic Tern colonies were at Flakkerhuk where all the
young had been taken by the Greenlanders and on the islands off
Egedesmunde (Green Islands). Each colony numbered many thousands
of birds. ;

At Flakkerhuk I watched a bathing and splashing display by hundreds
of tern on August 4th. The performance commenced with great activity
among the colony which hitherto had been quietly fishing ; quite suddenly
they all made off rapidly towards a shallow lagoon, flying about fifty feet
above water. Then one or two commenced to dive and on surfacing
they did not at once take wing as is usual after a dive for food, but
commenced to splash and wash ; very soon some hundreds were splashing
and washing ; and then, quite suddenly they all took wing, flew about
200 yards and again dived followed by about five minutes splashing and
washing. Finally they all flew to land where they dried and preened.
After an hour or so the whole game was repeated by several thousand
birds preceded by a sudden rush flight as though by signal.

On August 8th, we visited the huge Kittiwake colony on the Arve
Prinsens Islands ; tens of thousands were nesting on a high cliff, nests
being placed from almost sea level to well over a thousand feet. Chicks
were about half-grown though a few were newly hatched. Several pairs
of Ravens were raiding the colony, often just throwing the chicks down the
cliff and the parents did not seem to have the power to combine and
drive them off as terns will. Atthe bottom of the cliff were many hundreds
of dead chicks all thrown down by these Ravens.

Razorbills and Brunnich’s Guillemots were only found breeding in the
large Kittiwake colonies on the Arve Prinsens Islands ; they were not in
large numbers. Both had freshly hatched chicks in early August.
Brunnich’s Guillemots were found to be feeding exclusively on shrimps.

Little Auks were only seen on the Green Islands in Disko Bay and not
more than a dozen were recorded. We did not find Puffins breeding
where once they were numerous. Black Guillemots had small breeding
colonies in many places, the largest being about twenty pairs in Disko
Fjord.

I sat opposite a Snowy Owl at 30 yards distance for over half an hour
before he made off ; and I saw a single Greenland Falcon flying past very
low at Holsteinborg and was able to measure his speed at 51 m.p.h.
ground speed.

Wheatears, Greenland Redpoll (rostrata), Snow Bunting and Lapland
Bunting were fairly well distributed and common. Snow Buntings have
become a town bird, building in houses and masonry and the Lapland
Bunting is a village scavenger. So tame are the redpolls that I have had
them feeding on dandelion seeds within a foot of me.

Ravens were fairly common everywhere, scavenging on the outskirts
of settlements.

Bird protection in Greenland.

The slaughter of birds in Greenland by the Greenlanders is appalling

and in several cases species are nearing extinction. This is due to four

1956 3 Vol. 76

main causes. Cheap guns and ammunition, desire for any form of meat
and the abundance of small boats with motor engines. In addition, very
little attention is paid to protective legislation, though very little of this
exists.

As examples of senseless slaughter I quote the following cases which
came under my personal observation.

In June, I found a heap of over fifty King Eider on a sandspit ; these
were just left as the party had shot more than they could carry. Again
in Disko Fjord on two occasions in July we saw small boats loaded with
Common and King Eider, over fifty in each boat. The Eider during the
moulting season are particularly vulnerable as they are close-packed and
flightless, being easily driven ashore by boats and then despatched.

The large tern colony at Flakkerhuk produced one young bird out of
many thousands of pairs ; all the eggs had been taken.

When we landed on Green Islands where there is a huge ternery, our
men commenced to take every egg they could find though they were all
on the point of hatching. Our efforts to stop them was just laughed at.

At Umanak nearly every house had quantities of Eider and Guillemot
hanging outside in the middle of the breeding season.

When we visited a Cormorant rookery in Disko Fjord the three
Greenlanders on board commended to shoot the chicks from the boat
without a hope of recovering them and just left dead and wounded to rot.

We found Greenlanders utterly callous to suffering. They will bite off
and swallow the orange knob at the base of a King Eider’s bill when the
bird was still alive. Gangs of small boys wander about near settlements
when the young of Snow Bunting, Wheatear and Lapland Bunting are
fledged, hunt them to death with stones and when the bird is caught the
guts are bitten out and swallowed before the bird is dead and the chick
then stuffed into a pocket.

Dr. Salomonsen has suggested the following remedies (Dansk. Orn.
Foren. Tids. XLIX. 1955 p. 11).

a. Protection of all rookeries of Brunnich’s Guillemot and restricted
egg collecting.

b. Close season for cormorants.

c. No egg collecting at terneries after June 30th.

d. A ten year absolute protection for the Puffin.

I discussed this problem with Dr. Salomonsen in Copenhagen as I do not
think his proposals go far enough.

The Greenlanders have for centuries depended on birds as an important
food supply ; but that is no argument for endangering that same food

supply. Also it cannot be too strongly emphasised that birds are not the

property of the country where they breed. Birds are international
property and it is the duty of every State to preserve bird life and prevent
excessive destruction.

I would, in all humility suggest :—

a. That a high purchase tax be placed on all firearms and
ammunition so that shooting beyond needs becomes an expensive
luxury.

b. That the taking of eggs of all birds is prohibited after June 15th
and that the killing of adults is prohibited on the breeding grounds.

Vol. 76 DD 1956

c. That certain large breeding colonies enjoy absolute protection
from any kind of disturbance.

d. That some official be appointed whose duty is to enforce the law
of bird protection and ensure that culprits are adequately
punished. |

e. That education includes teaching the young that cruelty is one
of the worst human vices.

A New Race of Babbler from West Africa

By Dr. WILLIAM SERLE
Exhibited at the December meeting of the B.O.C.

Illadopsis cleaveri marchanti, new race.

Description : Distinguished from all known races of //ladopsis cleaveri
(Shelley) in that the forehead, crown, and nape are dark olive-grey not
black ; in that there is a reduction in the breadth of the stripe which
extends from the base of the bill over the eye and ear coverts to the side
of the neck, and in that the anterior part of that stripe is buffish-grey, not
grey or white. Further distinguished from J/ladopsis cleaveri johnsoni
(Biittikofer) and J//adopsis cleaveri batesi (Sharpe) in that the flanks and
under tail coverts are rufous-buff not olive-brown, and from J/ladopsis
cleaveri cleaveri (Shelley) and I/ladopsis cleaveri poensis (Bannerman) in
that the rufous-buff of the flanks and under tail coverts is lighter in shade
when compared with those two forms.

Distribution : The Owerri and Rivers Provinces of the Eastern Region
of Nigeria.

Type: In the British Museum. Adult male, Omanelu, 5° 12’ N.
6° 52’ E. Rivers Province, Nigeria. Sth August, 1953. Collected by
Dr. William Serle. Collector’s No. N.2107. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 1955.59.1.

Measurements of Type : Wing 76, culmen 14, tail 55, tarsus 26 mm.

Remarks : Named after Mr. S. Marchant who at Owerri obtained the
first specimen (badly damaged) of this new form, and who, whilst refrain-
ing from naming it drew attention to its distinguishing characters in the
Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1950), vol. 70, p. 27.

Immature plumage: A newly fledged female juvenile (wing 66, tail
42 mm.) was obtained with the adult type. Entire upperparts from fore-
head to upper tail coverts, and including the wing coverts and inner
secondaries, washed with rusty-brown. Chin and throat white. Breast,
flanks, and under tail coverts rusty-rufous, with obscure dusky smudges
on the breast and flanks. Even at this early stage it is distinguished from
the fledglings of /.c.batesi and I.c.poensis by the grey not black crown and
nape.

Field notes : The type and the juvenile female were obtained together
in the undergrowth in rain forest of mixed primary and secondary growth.
Both had eaten insects.

The distribution of Illadopsis cleaveri (Shelley) with a diagnostic key of
its races.—In the course of identifying the new race the following material
was examined in the British Museum and my own collection—/. c.
cleaveri, two unsexed specimens (one the type) ; /. c. johnsoni, one female ;

Oe

1956 | 23 Vol. 76

I. c. marchanti, two males (one the type) and oné juvenile female ; /. c.
batesi, a long series including the type ; J. c. poensis, two males (one the
type) and one juvenile male. The characters and distribution of the
races is as follows :—

_ Illadopsis cleaveri johnsoni (Buttikofer)

Eye stripe greyish white, crown black, throat and breast grey of a darker
shade than any other race, flanks and under tail coverts olive-brown.
Wing, | adult?, 67 mm. Range: Sierra Leone (see Ostrich, 1949, p. 4)
to Liberia. |

Illadopsis cleaveri cleaveri (Shelley)

Eye stripe greyish white, crown black, breast light grey, flanks and
under tail coverts rufous-buff. Wing, 2 unsexed adults 69, 68 mm.
Range : Gold Coast.

Illadopsis cleaveri marchanti, Serle.

Eye stripe buffish-grey, anteriorly, grey posteriorly, crown dark olive-
grey, breast grey, lightly washed rufous, flanks and under tail coverts
bright rufous-buff. Wing, 2 adultj, 77, 76 mm.

Range : Owerri and Rivers Provinces of Eastern Region, Nigeria.

Illadopsis cleaveri batesi (Sharpe).

Eye stripe grey, crown black, breast grey washed olive-brown, flanks
and under tail coverts olive-brown (in a few individuals from the western
extremity of its range lightly washed rufous). Wing, 10 adultd, 74-84 ;
10 adult2, 69-74 mm.

Range : Obudu Division of Ogoja Province Eastern Region of Nigeria
to Gaboon.

Illadopsis cleaveri poensis (Bannerman)

Eye stripe grey, crown black, mantle darker in shade than any other
race, breast olive-brown, flanks and under tail coverts dull rufous-buff.
Wing, 2 adultg, 77, 77 mm.

Range : Fernando Po.

An Icelandic Redshank in freshly moulted Summer Plumage
in November *

By Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON AND DR. JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 29th November, 1955, and subsequently modified.

On November 9th, 1955 one of us collected a female Icelandic Redshank,
Tringa totanus robusta Schidler, on Milfordhope Marsh, Medway Estuary,
Kent. The bird is a female, the wing measuring 169 mm., thus placing it .
within the measurements of the Icelandic race. The ovary was identical
in size to that of a second female Redshank shot on the same day ; both
measuring 7x4 mm. The skull was incompletely pneumatised, but this.
is a species which does not develop full pneumatisation and therefore -
these findings cannot be used as an indication of the age of the bird.

The Icelandic example was remarkable for being in advanced fresh/y
moulted summer plumage, the head and neck being streaked with black,
the breast and flanks strongly spotted and streaked and the mantle showing

* Exhibited before the B.O.C. at the December, 1955 meeting.

Vol. 76 ( 24 1956

well developed black barring, with the incipient chestnut of full summer
already apparent at the periphery of some of the feathers. The accompany-
ing plate shows these differences in comparison with the other female shot
on the same day, which is in normal winter plumage.

We have examined large numbers of waders in autumn, but we have
never seen one which at the time of autumn moult had assumed this
considerable degree of summer plumage or indeed any summer plumage.
The picture is of course quite different from that of the autumn adult
wading bird in its retained and worn summer plumage, in which the
feathers show much abrasion. All the feathers in this Redshank are new.
One can only assume that in this most exceptional case, there must have
been an over-acting ovarian influence, which stimulated the development
of summer dress at the time of moulting. It is well known that gonadal
recrudescence occurs in autumn and may lead to behaviour characteristic
of spring, familiar examples being the autumn song of certain species,
such as the Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs, Dunlin, Calidris alpina, and the
Redshank which may also be seen on occasions performing a partial
display flight, while we have recorded elsewhere Continental Song
Thrushes, Turdus ericetorum philomelus Brehm, carrying out courtship
display in this country in autumn, following their migrations.

The present Redshank has therefore taken this autumnal recrudescence
a stage further with the assumption of spring plumage and one may
postulate a synergistic hormonal activation of the Pituitary, Adrenals and
Ovaries to produce the necessary stimulation to bring these changes about.

Such an occurence appears unique in the annals of British ornithology
and it was with astonishment we read in The Times (10.12.55) that Mr.
John Williams, of the Coryndon Museum, had found similar cases this
autumn in Kenya. The birds in question included a Greenshank,
Tringa nebularia (Gunnerus), and a Sanderling, Crocethia alba (Pallas),
(J. W. in Jitt. ). Mr. Williams’ comments as they appeared in The
Times were as follows :—“‘ It makes one wonder if these birds have been
in a radioactive area in northern Russia which has somehow affected
their moulting sequences. I have no evidence to support this theory,
but as far as I can see there could be no other reason.” In a subsequent
letter (The Times, 14.12.55) we made further comment that “If Mr.
Williams is right in his theory, then a wide area in the far north must have
been affected. Also the dosage must have been low enough to produce
a stimulating effect, rather than a larger one which would be more likely
to produce the opposite sterilising effect.”

Arrangements have since been made for Dr. John Loutit of the Radio-
biological Research Unit, the Atomic Research Establishment, Harwell,
to examine the bones of any further birds suspected of contamination by
radioactivity.

This specimen also supports fully the phenomenon of colour change in
plumage without moult. When skinning it, we both searched the inner
surface of the skin in vain for any sign of active moult. The mantle and
scapular feathers have the black central line and transverse barring
partially complete and almost entirely lack the lighter chestnut coloura-
tion, which ultimately develops between the transverse barring. Thus,
the November Redshank exhibits a state of plumage which is normally
seen in March. It is in fact intermediate between winter and summer

1956 | 25 | Vol. 76

photo: E. Fielder, Sevenoaks.

The two female Redshank collected on 9th November, 1955, showing precocious
assumption of summer plumage in the upper bird

dress and those ornithologists who deny colour change in feathers without
moult, do not appear to realise that such a plumage exists. Unless this
bird is to undergo a second complete moult in spring, it is difficult to
understand how it can develop the final transformation into full spring

plumage, other than by an intensification of the colour changes already
mentioned.

A Summary of the known Geographical Distribution of
Mutant “mottled” Rooks, Corvus frugilegus frugilegus
Linnaeus
by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE
Received 10th October, 1955

This subject has been discussed by three authors in recent years (i.e.,
Fordham 1950, Harrison 1949 and 1950, Mayaud 1950). Since then a
certain amount of additional information has come to hand, and it seems

Vol. 76 26 1956

advisable to summarise our existing knowledge of the distribution of this
interesting mutation.

Treating the known Continental records in chronological order, we
have first the description and plate of a French specimen published by
Millet (1828). The plate depicts an apparent adult bird. At one time
the accuracy of this plate was in doubt, but subsequent information
suggests that it is correct, as it is now known that this condition does in
some cases persist into adult plumage. Mayaud (1950) described two
other French specimens, one a juvenile and the other in the process of
moulting into first-summer plumage. These birds are in the Paris and
Nantes Museums respectively. Monsieur Mayaud informs me (in /itt.)
that despite enquiries on the subject he has no record of this mutation
occurring in recent years in France. Degland and Gerbe (1867) evidently
knew of this mutation on the Continent, and the former evidently had
specimens. Their description reads as follows :—

‘““ Variétés accidentelles ; Cette espéce se présente quelquelfois avec
Pextrémité des pennes secondaires, des petites et des moyennes couver-
tures des ailes tachée. de blanchatre (Collect. Degland). D’autres fois
le plumage est tapiré. Chez quelques individus le bec devient trés-
long, tres-effilé.”’

This description is additionally interesting in that it mentions a long
tapering bill. This condition has not been observed in any of the
specimens of this mutation obtained in this country.

Turning now to the British records, the first mention appears to be that
of Hunt (1815-1822). This author mentions a light ash-coloured
specimen mottled all over with black, quills and tail feathers barred. This
was Obviously one of the more extreme examples of the “ mottled ”’
mutation. Yarrell (1843) mentions a variety “ of a light ash colour most
beautifully mottled all over with black, and the quill and tail feathers
elegantly barred.’’ He goes on to say that on moulting this bird assumed
normal plumage. Irby (1851) mentions a Rook killed in Northampton-
shire that was grey on the back and wings, the back being darker than the
wings, and also grey on the tail. There is little doubt that this was an
example of the “ mottled’ mutation. Next we have the statement by
Hancock (1874), he says that a young bird taken from the nest had the
whole of the plumage black, each feather having a greyish bar close to the
extremity (i.e., sub-terminal). The bars were wide on the dorsal surface
and narrower on the ventral surface. Hancock gives quite a good plate,
and the specimen from which this was drawn is probably the one from his
collection which is now in the Hancock Museum, Newcastle, labelled
‘* Durham ’”’. This museum also possesses two other “ mottled ’’ Rooks
from his collection, one has no data and the other is labelled * bought at
Weybridge, Surrey, 1880”. The next author to mention this mutation
appears to have been Bolam (1912), who writes “ Individuals in which
each black feather is barred, or spotted, with one or other of these colours
(brown or grey) are less common still, though represented in many
collections. I have had, or seen, specimens in this phase of plumage, from
several places. They have always been young birds... The same
author tells us that in 1899 a young Rook was presented to the Berwick
Museum, this bird had each feather of the upper parts barred, or spotted,
and tipped with a pale slate colour, and the underparts mottled with the

1950 a7 | Vol. 76

Mottled Rook

same colour. Bolam traced the history of this bird and found that it had
been shot at a small Rookery at Humbleton, near Wooler, Northumber-
land, in 1896, with some three dozen other similarly marked birds.
Another bird had been caught alive and kept for some 24 years. During
this period it moulted several times but always retained its mottled plumage
(italics mine). The specimen mentioned above was in the Berwick
Museum until 1949 when it was then unfortunately destroyed. I have
examined three specimens of ‘“‘ mottled ’’ Rooks in the collection of the
British Museum (Natural History), they are all juveniles and similar in

Vol. 76 28 1956

appearance to mutant birds from Ashwell, Hertfordshire. They were all
obtained in Lincolnshire however, viz., Waithe, May 1902 ; Grainsby,
May 1920, and 4th June, 1923. The latter specimen is a female and the
remaining two are unsexed. The Cambridgeshire Pest Officer has stated
that several “ mottled ’’ Rooks were shot at Shepreth about 1949, but
none have been seen there since. Full details of the mutants obtained
at Ashwell up to 1949 have been given by Harrison (1949). Plate |
shows a typical mutant bird taken at Ashwell in 1947. Subsequent figures
from this locality are as follows :—

1950—no mutants found.
1951—600 young birds examined, 3 mutants with barred wings found,
and several brown mutants.
1952—300 young birds examined, no
but one brown type.
1953—400 young birds examined, no mutants.
1954—350 young birds examined, 2 “ mottled’? mutants, 3 with
barred wings and | brown type found.
1955—two “ mottled’ mutants found.
Dr. Harrison also mentions a Kentish specimen in the Maidstone Museum.
There is no point in discussing the genetics of this mutation, there are a
considerable number of theories all of which can be made to fit the known
facts. Apart from advancing our knowledge of the geographical distribu-
tion of this mutation, we have learnt practically all we can from skins.
The complex genetical problems that remain will only be worked out by
breeding under aviary conditions, or possibly by colour ringing in the
field. We do know that the condition is not sex linked and that it is
possibly due to a recessive gene(s), gaining expression when in the
homozygous state. It has been suggested that at one time all Rooks were
mottled, and that a black-plumage gene arose by mutation and eventually
became dominant. The “ mottling” is thus an ancestral character. It
is possible however to postulate that the condition has nothing to do with
ancestry, any more than albinism which is also recessive. We do not
suppose that the ancestors of animals exhibiting albinism were all albinos.
In nature it is rare to find one gene acting alone, more often than not
characters are controlled by a group of genes. It will thus be clear that
without controlled breeding experiments we can only speculate on the
genetics of this mutation.

«

‘mottled’? mutants found,

References

Bolam, George (1912) The Birds of Northumberland and the Eastern Borders.

Degland, C. D. & Gerbe, Z. (1867) Ornithologie,Européenne 2nd Ed.

Fordham, W. H. (1950) “‘ Mottled ’’ Rooks at Odsey. Trans. Herts. Nat. Hist. Soc.,
XXIV : 42.

Hancock, John (1874). A Catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham.
Nat. Hist. Trans. of Northumberland and Durham VI : 37 and 38, plate 3.

Harrison, Dr. James M. (1949). Exhibition of a Variety of the Rook. Bull. B.O.C.
69 : 117-118.

Harrison, Dr. James M. (1950). Remarks upon the *“‘ Mottled ”’’ variety of the Rook.
Corvus frugilegus frugilegus. Linnaeus. Bull. B.O.C. 70: 7.

Hunt, J. (1815-1822). British Ornithology.

Irby, L. H. (1851). Gray Variety of the Rook. Zoologist, 1851 : 3034.

Mayaud, Noel (1950). On the ‘“* Mottled’ Variety of the Rook. Bul/. B.O.C.,
70 : 18-19.

Millet, P. A. (1828). Faune de Maine et Loire.

Yarrell, W. (1843). History of British Birds.

1956 29 Vol. 76
The specific status of the Willow Tit
by Dr. D. W. SNow

Received 5th October, 1955.

In Die Vogel der Paldarktischen Fauna (1905) Hartert amalgamated
the Old World Willow Tits with the New World Black-capped Chickadees
Parus atricapillus (type locality, Canada), on the grounds that they agreed
in the structure of the crown feathers, graduated tail, and “all other
important characters”’’ ; and this opinion has been generally accepted.
In the course of working through the Paridae systematically, I have
however come to realize that there are serious objections to this classifica-
tion, and it appears that other ornithologists who have recently had
opportunities to see both forms in the field are also unconvinced of their
specific identity. It is highly undesirable to alter a well-known name
without strong reason, but it seems that this is a case where such a change
is needed : the nomenclature as it stands obscures the affinities of several
well-known birds of wide distribution. I therefore intend, in dealing
with the Paridae in the forthcoming continuation of Peters’ Check-list
of Birds of the World, to separate the Old World Willow Tits from Parus
atricapillus.

Before giving the special arguments, it may be noted that a general
resemblance between a Palaearctic and North American bird does not in
itself afford sufficient grounds for treating them as conspecific. The
taxonomic treatment of such pairs has been inconsistent : some are
usually considered conspecific ; others, with apparently equally good
claims, are considered as distinct species. In one case where a test is
possible, in the genus Parus, the generally accepted criterion of reproductive
isolation shows that the two are distinct species—P. cinctus has occupied
part of Alaska, where it overlaps with P. hudsonicus and does not inter-
breed. These two species are, if anything, more similar to one another
than are the Willow Tit and Black-capped Chickadee.

First, we may consider the Old World forms of so-called atricapillus.
These are a diverse assemblage, and include the very distinct songarus
group in the Tian Shan, southern Mongolia and northern and western
a. All, except the songarus group, have dull black crowns but
otherwise exhibit a great amount of geographical variation, ranging from
the olive-brown backed populations of western Europe to the almost
white-backed and very long-tailed populations of eastern Siberia. The
_pale-backed forms are correspondingly pale below and have more
extensive white cheeks and paler edges to the wing- and tail-feathers.
Variation is clinal almost throughout and there is no doubt of the specific
identity of these black-crowned forms. The songarus group, originally
treated as a separate species, was included in atricapillus by Hartert, and
this has been accepted by most subsequent authors. These are brown-
capped tits, comprising three subspecies, songarus, affinis and stotzneri.
Songarus is at first sight a very different bird from the typical Willow Tit,
with a rusty brown cap and warm brown back, and of very large size ;
affinis 1s a greyer bird, but still very distinct, and stotzneri is a little greyer
still. Since the songarus group replaces the typical Willow Tits geo-
graphically, in an area where other Parus species are represented by
‘sometimes rather distinct but undoubtedly conspecific populations, and

Vol. 76 30 3 1956

since a similar variation in cap-colour is found in the closely related P.
lugubris, while several Parus species exhibit even greater variation in
general colour, Hartert’s decision to include them among the Willow Tits
is probably correct.

Turning now to Parus atricapillus in North America, the following
points are relevant. The Black-capped Chickadees vary a good deal
geographically, but not nearly as much as the Willow Tits. They differ
consistently from the latter in having (as Hartert noted) a much more
extensive black bib, drawn out at the corners into a neat triangle, so that
the white cheeks are almost separated by the black crown above and the
bib below from the pale colour of the sides of the neck and the rest of
the body. This gives the head a quite different appearance from that of
the Willow Tit, in which, as in the other closely related Old World species,
the bib is rather small with an indistinct posterior edge, so that the white
of the cheek passes broadly back and merges with the pale colour of the
sides of the body and under-parts. In addition the back-colour of the
Black-capped Chickadee is olive-grey rather than brown or grey-brown,
as in the Old World forms, contrasting with the buff colour of the flanks,
whereas in the Willow Tit the flanks are almost the same colour as, but
considerably paler than, the back. Finally, the whitish edges of the
secondaries (and to a lesser extent the other wing- and tail-feathers) are
more marked in the Black-capped Chickadee than in the Willow Tit
(when comparison is made between forms with equally dark back-colour).

The importance of these points of difference lies not so much in their
mere existence as in the fact that they ally the Black-capped Chickadee
more closely to two other New World species, P. carolinensis and P. sclateri,
than to any Old World form. In particular, the American birds all have
the same head-pattern, in which they differ from all the Eurasian forms.
Moreover, recent work (Lunk 1952, Tanner 1952) has shown that the
Black-capped Chickadee and P. carolinensis are extremely closely related
to one another: they are almost completely allopatric and morpho-
logically very similar, they apparently compete in some places where they
co-exist, and there is evidence of occasional hybridization. P. sclateri,
which does not overlap with either of them, being isolated in mountains
in the extreme south of the U.S.A. and Mexico, is merely a large, dark
version of the same form. Thus both morphological and distributional
evidence strongly suggests that American atricapillus, carolinensis and
sclateri have evolved comparatively recently from a common stock.

The evidence from song and calls points the same way. This has
recently been discussed in detail by Mayr (1955, and in Jitt.) ; here the
main points only need be summarized. Not only is the call of the Willow
Tit similar to that of the Black-capped Chickadee—both have the familiar
‘““tchay, tchay’’’ notes—but the song is also rather similar : what has
been called the Brunstpfiff song of the Willow Tit is probably the counter-
part of the “‘ phoebe’ song of the Black-capped Chickadee. But the
Carolina Chickadee’s song and calls are even more similar to those of the
Black-capped Chickadee: in particular, its song is a very simple
modification of that of the Black-capped Chickadee. Basing his argument
entirely on voice, without going into details of morphology, Mayr
concludes that the Black-capped Chickadee is closer to the Carolina

|

1956 31 Vol. 76

Chickadee than to the Willow Tit, and that the latter must be considered
to be a separate species.

The relationships between the forms under discussion appear then to
be as follows. The New World species, Parus atricapillus, Parus
carolinensis and Parus sclateri, are closely allied to one another, replace
one another geographically, and are probably monophyletic, but there
are good grounds for treating them as separate species. Of the Old
World forms, the Willow Tit shows resemblances, particularly in voice,
to this group, being most like Parus atricapillus, but these resemblances
are much less marked than those that the New World species show between
themselves. Moreover, some morphological considerations ally the
Willow Tit rather more to other Old World species than to the New World
group. Clearly the nomenclature as present is misleading, and the Old
World Willow Tits must be separated from Parus atricapillus. This |
propose to do in the forthcoming Check-list, using the oldest available
name, Parus montanus Conrad 1827 (not Baldenstein, see Corti, Orn.
Beob. 44, 1947, p. 68), and including in it, following Hartert, the rather
distinct songarus section.

I am very grateful to Dr. E. Mayr for sending me a copy of his paper
in proof, for criticizing an earlier draft of this paper, and for drawing my
attention to the correct name of the author of Parus montanus.

References :—

Hartert, E. ‘* Die Vogel der Paldarktischen Fauna.’ 1905.

Lunk, W. A. “ Notes on Variation in the Carolina Chickadee.’ Wilson Bull.
64: 7-21. 1952.

Mayr, E. “ Gesang und Systematik.’ Beitr. zur Vogelkunde (Festschrift
Heyder). 1955.

Tanner, J.T. ‘* Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees in the southern Appalachian
Mountains.” Auk 69: 407-424. 1952.

Notes from Central Africa

by Mr. C. W. BENSON
Received 20th September, 1955

a. Apalis cinerea alticola (Shelley). Further to my note in ‘‘Ostrich’’,
1952, p. 157, I have since obtained a ¢ and two @ from Fife, the type
locality, now in the British Museum. I have compared them there
with the following material :— seven g and four 9 from elsewhere in north-
eastern Northern Rhodesia; four ¢ and.three 9 from northern Nyasaland;
three 3 and two 2 from Sumbawanga and eight 3 and four 9 from Njombe,
in southern Tanganyika Territory. All these specimens appear to be adult. ©
The two 9 from Fife are as dark brown on the crown as any in this series.
There is some variation in this respect, regardless of locality or sex. Captain
Grant agrees that A. c. brunneiceps Reichenow must now definitely be
regarded as a synonym of A. c. alticola.

b. Cisticola lateralis vincenti Chapin. A ¢ in the Bulawayo Museum,
collected by Major I. R. Grimwood, in the Mwinilunga district, Northern
Rhodesia, 30th July, 1951, agrees with the series of this form in the
British Museum. See also “‘Ibis’’, 1951, p.148.

¢. Cisticola pipiens congo Lynes. There are two $ in the Bulawayo

Vol. 76 32 1956

Museum, collected by Mr. Smithers, as follows: 13th August, Shangombo,
Barotseland, 16° 18’ S., 22° 06’ E., wing 61, tail 64 mm.; 17th August,
Santa Cruz (a few miles west of Shangombo, in Angola), wing 60.5, tail
62.5 mm. There is also a 3 in the British Museum from the Mababe Flats,
northern Bechuanaland, 10th August 1909, which extends the known
range still further south: wing 61.5, tail 61 mm. This specimen had been
placed with C. galactotes, but is C. pipiens. All three specimens have been
compared with a long series, and are clearly C. p. congo, which is a well
marked race, especially in the bolder mottling on the mantle and scapulars,
in both breeding and non-breeding dress, than im C. p. pipiens.

d. Prinia flavicans bihe Boulton and Vincent, Bull. B.O.C., 57, 1936, p. 7.
White and Winterbottom, in their Northern Rhodesia checklist, 1949, p.
104, record an indeterminate race of this species from the extreme west of
the Balovale district. At Mr. White’s request I have examined a § and two
2 collected by him in this locality in August and September, 1945, and now
in the British Museum. I have there compared them with some one
hundred specimens of P. f. flavicans (Vieillot), and the only specimen (the
type) therein of P. f. bihe, which appears to be a well marked race. White’s
specimens are not quite so dark above, nor so black on the chest as in this
type. The flanks are tinged greyish olive, though not quite to the same
extent as in the type, specimens of P. f. flavicans showing no such contrast
at all. But most marked of all, not mentioned by Boulton and Vincent, is
the darker, more lemon tinge of the yellow on the abdomen in P. /. bihe.
In this character the Balovale birds agree well with that race, with which
Captain Grant agrees that they are best placed. Measurements: ¢, wing
56.5; tail 69 mm.: 9, wing 54, 57.5; tail 69, 75 mm.

A Note on Variation in the Colour of the Legs and Plumage
of the Wren
Troglodytes troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus)

by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE
Received 12th October, 1955

On 17th September, 1955, at the Panshanger Estate, Hertfordshire, I had
under observation for some fifteen minutes, a Wren with bright yellow
legs and feet instead of the usual dull brownish-flesh. The bird was normal
in every other respect.

As plumage variations in this species are none too common I list below
the records that I have in my index:

({) a brood of young Wrens hatched at Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1876 were all

of a light cream colour (The Friend’s Quarterly Examiner 1876, vol.

X: 502-511).

(ii) one with pied wings seen at Northrepps, Norfolk, on 9th December,

1886, (Zoologist 1887: 140-142).

(iii) an almost white bird seen at Hickling, Norfolk, on 3rd December,

1896, (Zoologist 1897: 128).

(iv) a young bird of a uniform cream colour seen near Elstree, Herts,

on 13th June, 1906, Zoologist 1906: 391).

1956 33 Vol. 76

(v) one found dead at Boyland, Norfolk, in January 1911 was nearly

three parts white but had normal wings Zoologist 1912: 138).

(vi) on 15th October, 1920, near Horsham, Sussex, a very pale cinna-

mon or rufous cream-coloured bird was seen by A. L. Butler (British

Birds XIV: 143).

A record of symmetrical albinism in the wings of this pores. was
recorded in Bulletin B.O.C. 74: 10.

A new race of Dark-backed Weaver
from Tanganyika Territory

by Carr. C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWoRTH-PRAED
Received 29th October, 1955.

Symplectes bicolor kigomaensis new race.

Description : Upper parts similar to Symplectes bicolor amaurocephalus
(Cabanis), but differs from that race in being larger, having a larger bill,
and in having the chin and throat black ; throat sometimes mixed black
and yellow, not white with dusky bases as in S. 6. amaurocephalus and
from Symplectes bicolor stictifrons (Fischer & Reichenow) in having the
top of the head and nape brownish black, contrasting with the mantle.

Distribution; Southern Belgian Congo, north-eastern Northern
Rhodesia and western Tanganyika Territory.

Type: Male adult. Kazinga, near Kigoma, western Tanganyika
Territory, September 27th, 1940. Collector: R.E. Moreau. Collector’s
No. 5396. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 1945. 34. 526.

Measurements of type: Wing 86; culmen from base 20; tail 56;
tarsus 19 mm.

Remarks ; This new race has previously been confused with the
Angolan race S. b. amaurocephalus. Plate 3 in J F.O., 1880, agrees with
Angolan specimens in general colour, size of bill and wing, which 1s
approximately 75 mm. as measured on the plate, which is drawn life-size.
No measurements are given in the description.

Wing measurements of eight A. b. amaurocephalus are :—

Males 81 to 85, females 75 to 79 and fifteen of A. b. kigomaensis,
males 85 to 91, females 81 to 86 mm.
S. b. mentalis (Hartlaub), has the top of the head and nape black.

Note on Oenanthe pileata livingstonei (Tristram)

by Mr. J. H. BEESLEY
Received 29th October, 1955

I have been stationed in the Rukwa Valley, south-western Tanganyika
Territory, for over three years and have noted that this Wheatear visits
this valley from June to November to breed, and is absent between
November and June. June to October is the dry season and when the
grass is burnt.

I have further noted that this bird frequently sings at night, more
especially perhaps when disturbed by grass fires.

Vol. 76 34 1956

A new race of Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu
from Tanganyika Territory

by CapT. C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Received 29th October, 1955.

Uraeginthus bengalus kigomaensis new race

Description : Colour above darker earth-brown than Uraeginthus
bengalus schoanus (Neumann) and Uraeginthus bengalus ugogoensis
(Reichenow), and below brighter blue. As dark above as Uraeginthus
bengalus katangae (Vincent), but ear-coverts paler, claret-red as against
crimson-red. The female has the flanks blue, not buff-brown as in the
female of U. b. katangae.

Distribution : Loliondo, Monduli, Lake Eyasi, Biharamulo, Kasulu
and Kigoma, north-eastern to western Tanganyika Territory.

Type: Male adult, Kigoma, western Tanganyika Territory, April 26th,
1946. Collector: D. H. A. Bell. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 1946.85.95.

Measurements of Type: Wing 55; culmen from base 11 ; tail 58 ;
tarsus 14 mm.

Remarks.: Five males and three females examined, all in British
Museum collection.

On a Collection of Birds made by
Flight Lieutenant David L. Harrison in Oman, Arabia
PART I

by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON
Received 6th October, 1955.

During his service in the Middle East in 1953-4, Flight Lieutenant
D. L. Harrison made a collection of birds in Oman. He was stationed
in the Buraimi Oasis area between August 28th and October 8th, 1953
and at Sharjah from April 6th to July 24th, 1954.

Since relatively little is known concerning the birds of this region, the
notes which follow will serve to amplify the work of the few others who
have visited and published papers on Omanese ornithology.

Although the collection is not a numerous one, of the twenty-two
species collected, four are new to Oman and there is also one sub-species
not previously recorded for that country. Of the four new species one,
the Yellow-throated Sparrow, Petronia flavicollis transfuga has previously
only been recorded from Iraq, so the present specimen represents its
extreme south-westerly range to date.

Some interesting field notes are also recorded by the collector.
Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus dealbatus Swinhoe.

A single specimen of this form of the species was collected on April
16th, 1954 near Sharjah. The bird is an adult female in worn summer
dress ; the ovary is considerably enlarged and contained ova of approx-
imately 3mm. in diameter.

De Schauensee and Ripley ' record the nominate race from Masirah
in December and also as the breeding form for Masirah Island in June

—

1956: 35000 Vol. 76
and September, while Browne * records the species as a common
resident in Southern Arabia and also mentions seeing chicks at Masirah.

Guichard and Goodwin * collected specimens of the nominate form
in December at Sharjah and refer to the species as probably resident on
the Oman coast, quoting Cheeseman as having found a nest with three
eggs at Oquain on March 29th.

Hartert and Jackson 4 in describing C.a. dealbatus write “‘ Differs
from C.a. alexandrinus in its considerably stouter and longer bill.’ The
measurements quoted give the wing as 109-115 mm., exceptionally as
long as 123 mm., Bill generally 16-17 mm. The measurements of the
present specimen are as follows :—wing 111.5 mm; bill (from skull)
21 mm (exposed culmen) 17.5 mm ; tarsus 28 mm, tail 46 mm.

Three female specimens from Japan measure: wing 111 mm. (2),
114.5 mm.; bill (from skull) 20 mm. (2); (exposed culmen) 15 mm.,
16 mm., 17 mm., tarsus 26.5 mm., 28 mm. (2) ; tail 46 mm., 47 mm., 51
mm.

No opinion upon the status of this form, which is new to Arabia, can

_ of course be advanced since only one specimen from Oman is available.

Flight Lieutenant Harrison records that the species is common around
Sharjah. |

Great Sand-Plover, Charadrius leschenaultii Lesson.

Two examples of this species were obtained, the first an adult female on
September 14th, 1953, fifteen miles west of Tarif, was shot from a
flock of mixed waders, along a shore of sand desert with outcrops of red
sandstone, in a belt of low scrub 10 to 50 feet from high water mark.
The second is an adult male in worn breeding dress, was collected
at Sharjah on June 27th, 1954. Measurements : female, wing 142 mm.,

. male, wing 143 mm.

White-cheeked Tern, Sterna repressa Hartert.

Flight Lieutenant Harrison recorded this species as very common off
Dubai in June and stated that fewer were seen off Sharjah. An adult
female with the ovary moderately enlarged was collected on June 27th,
1954 at Sharjah.

This species was recorded by Browne (/oc. cit.) during May and June
off Masirah Island and a big increase was noted by him between September
13th and 19th with a maximum of between 2000 and 3000. It was also
recorded by Dr. C. B. Ticehurst et alia ° at Sir Bu Na Air at the end of
May. Measurements : wing, 249 mm.

Little Tern, Sterna albifrons saundersi Hume.

This species was found breeding not uncommonly around Sharjah, an
adult male being obtained there on May 3lst, 1954 and on July 2nd, 1954 ;
a fully-fledged juvenile was obtained in the same area.

Meinertzhagen ° assigns birds found breeding in the southern half of
the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and eastwards to the coast of Sind to this
form. The Oman specimens agree perfectly with a series from Sind and
are without doubt S.a. saundersi.

The juvenile specimen is a curiously pale sandy bird, quite unlike the

immatures of the nominate race. This form of the Little Tern was

described very clearly by Dr. C. B. Ticehurst * and the adult specimen

_ from Oman possesses every distinctive character.

Vol. 76 36 1956

By some investigators S.a. albifrons and S.a. saundersi are regarded as
morphologically very close to one another. In consequence of this
considerable confusion exists as to the respective breeding distributions,
but it is not clear whether the conclusions on this point are always based
upon adequate breeding material or mainly on right records. It would
seem therefore not out of place to note some divergent opinions.
Meinertzhagen (/oc. cit.) in addition to the countries already given writes :
‘“* Possibly breeds at the southern end of Bahrein Island and certainly at
Jedda.”” Ticehurst® remarks “‘ Saundersi has been recorded from Fao by
Sharpe and is said to breed at Abdulla Banks. Armstrong’s bird, which
was breeding on the dry mud above high water mark at Fao however, and
all Cumming’s birds in the B.M. are m. minuta.” (S.a. albifrons Auct.)

Allouse® quotes Ticehurst (1926) in recording S.a. saundersi as breeding
in Abadan and on the small islands at the he1d of the Persian Gulf, where
eggs were found in May and June.

In the investigation of the present Oman specimens, comparison was
made between them, the nominate form and S.a. sinensis, and also with a
strictly comparable series from the Sind coast. By comparison with the
former, the Oman adult was seen to be very pale, almost white on the
mantle and the juvenile was also remarkably pale. They were also far
paler than S.a. sinensis from Japan, while exactly matching the Sind series.

It would, therefore, seem desirable to carry out further detailed research
on the breeding populations of this species in the Persian Gulf area.

Spotted Sand-Grouse, Prerocles senegallus (Linnaeus).

An individual, female by plumage, was collected two miles east of
El Ain, Buraimi Oasis on October 2nd, 1953. The party of four from
which it was shot was inhabiting a thorn-scrub plain, and these were the
only Sand-Grouse seen over a period of six months by the Commanding
Officer at Buraimi, Major Peter MacDonald, and the species is considered
rare in the district, though probably more abundant in winter. The
specimen is in full moult.

| to be concluded | <\SH MURS

ac cain si ANCe
’ ‘ y 30 ‘ ve
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References : —

1 de Schauensee, R. M. and Ripley, S. D. ‘“ Birds of Oman and Muscat.” Proc.
Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., CV., 1953.

2 Browne, P. W., ‘‘ Notes on birds observed in South Arabia.” Ibis, 92, 1950.

3 Guichard, K. M. and Goodwin, D., “‘ Notes on birds collected and observed in
Oman and the Hadramaut.” Ibis, 94, 1952.

4 Hartert, E. and Jackson, A. C. ‘“‘ Notes on Some Waders.” Ibis, Ser. X,
Vol. 3, 1915.

5 Ticehurst, C. B., et alia. ‘‘ Birds of the Persian Gulf Islands.’ Journ. Bomb.
Nat. Hist: ‘Soc: XXX7i4.41925;:

6 Meinertzhagen, R. M., ‘‘ The Birds of Arabia.’ 1954.

7 Ticehurst, C. B., ‘‘ Saunders’ Tern.” Bull. B.O.C., XLI, 1921.

8 Ticehurst, C. B., ‘‘ The Birds of Mespotamia.”” Journ. Bomb, Nat, Hist. Soc.
XXVIII, 4, 1922.

® Allouse, B., ‘‘ The Avifauna of Iraq.” 1953.

ee
RY

Ya

Notices

BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘°*BULLETIN’’

Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each.
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Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by
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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

at Ne

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

Volume 76 March
No. 3 1956

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OE ORT eck

“1956 ES, < OA Vol. 76

BULLETIN
OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number 3
Published: Ist March, 1956

The five hundred and forty-sixth meeting was held at the Rembrandt
Hotel, South Kensington, on Tuesday, 21st February, 1956, following a
dinner at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: Mr. E. M. NICHOLSON.

mamiembers present: 27; Guests 5; Guest of the Club: Mr. J.C. T.
Galbraith; Total: 33.

Possible Irradiation in Birds

Dr. James M. Harrison exhibited a second Redshank showing incipient
summer plumage in winter. Minimal signs of radioactive contamination
was found by Dr. John Loutit’s department at Harwell and a graph
demonstrating this was shown to members. Dr. A. J. Marshall reported
on the ovary and oviduct that the development was rather in advance of
what he would have expected in a normal wintering bird. While the full
significance of these findings must await controlled experiments, it was
felt that they should be placed on record and a paper will appear in a
subsequent Bulletin.

The Birds of San Cristoval, British Scloman Islands

Mr. I. C. T. Galbraith gave a most interesting talk illustrated by slides
of his recent expedition. He stated that the avifauna has close affinities
to that of New Guinea, and described the various habiats, stressing the
temarkable geographical variation. This included repression of sexual
dimorphism in certain species and size variations affecting both general
and regional characters. He stressed the probable different geological
Origin of San Cristoval and Guadalcanal, the thirty miles separating
them representing a faunal break. Guadalcanal has 95 species, San
Cristoval 72, but there are only 36 forms common to both.

Vol. 76 38 | 1956

The relationship of Passer griseus (Vieillot)
and Passer diffusus (Smith),
with the description of a new race of the latter

by Mr. C. W. BENSON
Received 12th October, 1955

During a tour of the Luangwa Valley, Mpika district, Northern
Rhodesia, in June 1954, I collected a series of Grey-headed Sparrows which
were immediately distinguishable from the sparrows with which I was
already familiar, associated with villages at Kasama and elsewhere in the
plateau country to the north-westward. In particular, these Luangwa
sparrows had much smaller bills than the plateau birds, and the mantle
greyer, less rufous in tone, the rufous on the shoulder therefore showing up
in contrast. The difference in the size of the bill was noticed even in the
field, before any specimens had been collected. They were only found in
the Mopane woodland, the predominant vegetation type in the Luangwa. —
It was also particularly interesting that, later in the same tour, large-billed —
birds like those of the plateau country were seen and collected in the same ~
area as the small-billed birds, but in native villages, not in the Mopane. _

My experience in the Luangwa has led me to an examination of all the
specimens of Grey-headed Sparrow in southern Africa from Angola,
Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Portuguese East Africa southward in
the British Museum. Time did not permit a general examination of material
from any further north, in this or any other museum. Mr. R. H. N.
Smithers, the Director, also very kindly loaned all the specimens in the ~
National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo—some ninety from 7
Northern and Southern Rhodesia, and a few from Nyasaland, Portuguese
Fast Africa and Bechuanaland. Colonel R. Meinertzhagen has allowed me 7
to examine several specimens in his collection. I must also thank Dr. J. M. 7
Winterbottom for the loan of nine specimens in the South African Museum, ©
collected by Dr. F. O. Stoehr. In all, over two hundred specimens have ~
been available.

Differences analogous to those in the Luangwa were at once apparent in
specimens in the British Museum from western Angola, a series from 7
Benguella, Catumbella and Ndalla Tando being large-billed, with mantle |
rufous, but others, from Huxe, Loanda and Dondo:small-billed, with ©
mantle greyer, and the rufous on the shoulder showing up in contrast. As ~
in the Luangwa, there is a geographical overlap.

On the evidence of the Luangwa and western Angola specimens, it seems ©
wise to recognise two species in southern Africa, Passer griseus and Passer —
diffusus. Where they occur together, P. griseus is probably confined to the
vicinity of human habitations, P. diffusus to virgin woodland. Considering
their distributions as a whole, P. diffusus seems to frequent drier country
than does P. griseus. In the Luangwa, conditions are certainly more arid —
than they are on the neighbouring plateau country to the west and the east.
This is a further instance of a relatively dry country species apparently -
having the limit of its north-eastern distribution in the Luangwa Valley.
Other examples are the sandgrouse Eremialector bicinctus and the warbler
Eremomela usticollis. Conditions are also relatively dry where P. “i
occurs in western Angola: see Serle, ‘‘Ibis’’, 1955, p. 425.

=
:

1956 , 39 | Vol. 76

Passer griseus and P. diffusus have usually been regarded as conspecific,

see for example Sclater, Syst. Av. Aethiop., 2, 1930, p. 725. But there is

nothing very novel about my proposal. Thus Chapin (1954) is ‘‘led to
wonder whether diffusus and georgicus are rightly referred to griseus’’.
And Mackworth-Praed and Grant (1955) recognise P. griseus and two very
similar species further north in Africa.

It must be emphasised that the situation may not everywhere be so
straighforward as it appears to be in western Angola and in the Mpika
section of the Luangwa Valley. The two species are no doubt derived from
a common stock. P. griseus was perhaps evolved in relatively high rainfall
country in western Africa, P. diffusus in the drier conditions of southern
Africa. They have now met in a few places, and, as in the Mpika section
of the Luangwa Valley, where the human population is sparse, not yet
started to fuse. But as the human population increases, and more and
more of the original woodland is destroyed, this may be expected to occur.

In arranging the various forms set out below, it should be remembered
that colour-differences are only easily discernible in adult specimens in
fresh dress. Badly worn adults are placed where they appear to belong on
size of bill or on geographical grounds, while juveniles are ignored. All
culmen measurements are from base of skull. Measurements are only
separated by sexes where it seems certain that there has been no mis-sexing.

la. Passer diffusus diffusus (Smith).

Bieeiia diffusa A. Smith, Rep. Exped. C.Afr., p.50, 1836: north of the
Orange River. Mantle greyish brown. Small- billed, culmen 11-13 mm.
Wing 75-87 mm.

Range and material examined: Northern Cape Province, 1; Transvaal,
6; Bechuanaland, 4; Southern Rhodesia, 23; south-western Northern
Rhodesia north to Mongu and north-east to Mazabuka, 10; Portuguese
East Africa between Tambara, Tete and Chicowa, 10; Fort Johnston,
Nyasaland (?), 1.

Remarks: Three of the Bechuanaland specimens are from Gaberones
and Mahalapye, in the east of the territory. The fourth is from Maun,
20° S., 23° 25’ E., further west. Although it is best placed with P. d.
diffusus, P. d. georgicus Reichenow may extend into western Bechuanaland.
Some Northern Rhodesian specimens are rather markedly pure grey, less
brown, on the mantle, but without further material it is not possible to
decide whether the difference is constant enough to warrant their separation
by name. The Fort Johnston bird is in the British Museum, reg. no. 1946.
5.827. It is an adult male in rather worn dress: wing 81, culmen 12, bill
black. It does not differ in colour from other adults in worn dress of P. d.
diffusus. But the situation at Fort Johnston, where P. griseus certainly
occurs, requires further study. Conditions are not dissimilar to those in
the Luangwa Valley. Mopane woodland is found to some extent.

1b. Passer diffusus stygiceps Clancey.

Passer griseus stygiceps Clancey, Durban Mus. Novit., 4 (9), 1954, p.116:
Umzinyati Falls, Inanda, near Durban. Differs from P. d. diffusus in
being darker on the crown, mantle and rump, and by the duller grey of
the breast and flanks, which are suffused with buffish.

Range and material examined: Natal, 4.

Remarks: One specimen is merely labelled ‘‘Natal’’. The others are

Vol. 76 40 1956

from Ingagana River, near Newcastle; Weenen; and Mooi River. This
latter, in the Meinertzhagen collection, in fresh dress, is in fact as pale on
the mantle as in P. d. georgicus. None of these specimens are topotypical
of P. d. stygiceps, and I am not therefore in a position to comment on
this race.

lc. Passer diffusus georgicus Reichenow.

Passer griseus georgicus Reichenow, Vog. Afr., 3, 1904, p.231: Damara-
land. Differs from P. d. diffusus in being paler on the mantle.

Range and material examined: South-West Africa, 7; western Angola, 6.

Remarks: Specimens examined from Otyimbingwe; Omaruru; Elephant
Vlei; Huxe, 12° 40’ S., 13° 23’ E.; Dondo, 9° 45’ S., 14° 30’ E.; Loanda,
8° 50’ S., 30° 13’ E. The six from Angola, collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge
and Mr. W. P. Lowe in 1905-11, are rather small, having wing 73-81,
culmen 11.5-13 mm., compared to wing 79-86, culmen 12.5—-13 mm. in
the Damaraland specimens.

ld. Passer diffusus luangwae, new race.

Differs from P. d. diffusus in being warmer brown on the mantle, with
a clearer division from the grey of the crown and nape. Measurements
also rather smaller.

Range: Only definitely known from the Luangwa Valley, to the west
of the Luangwa River, in the Mpika district, Northern Rhodesia, between

OH 45" S2 ‘and 12° S7CS,

Type: Inthe British Museum. Adult 3. Mupamadzi River, Luangwa
Valley, Mpika district, Northern Rhodesia: 12° 37’ S., 32° 07’ E. 21st June
1954. Collected by Mr. C. W. Benson. Collector’s No. NR 3397. Brit. Mus.
Reg. No. 1955.41.3.

Measurements of type: Wing 77, tail 59, culmen 11, tarsus 18 mm.

Remarks: Seven 3 have wing 74-82, average 77.5 mm.; culmen
10.5—11.5 mm. : seven 2, wing 72-79, average 75.5 mm.; culmen 10-12 mm.
A specimen collected for Major W. E. Poles, sexed as a 9, wing 83, culmen
11.5 mm., is probably a 3, Twelve specimens collected by me in June
showed no gonad activity. Nor is there any evidence of activity in Poles’
bird, dated 29th July. But a 9 collected by Dr. S. A. Neave on 11th March
was captured on its nest. This specimen and another collected by Neave on
14th March have bills black. But all the others have it pale fleshy, the

—— VS

culmen tending to sepia. Probably in P. diffusus as a whole the bill is only —

black during the breeding season, but the large series of P. griseus ugandae
which I have examined suggests that there is no seasonal change, though
young birds have the bill sepia, usually darker than in young or non-
breeding P. diffusus. In P. d. luangwae it is noticeably paler than in any
specimen of P. g. ugandae. Neave’s two specimens of P. d. uangwae are
labelled ‘‘Upper Luangwa’’, and are so recorded ‘‘Ibis’’, 1910, p. 242. It
is impossible to determine where exactly they were collected. A specimen
from Kankomba, Lundazi district, 11° 40’ S., 32° 30’ E., not included
above, is also apparently this form, even although it has culmen as long as
12.5 mm.

2a. Passer griseus ugandae Reichenow.
Passer griseus ugandae_ Reichenow, Vog. Afr., 3, 1904, p. 231: Uganda.
Differs from the species Passer diffusus as a whole by its larger bill, culmen
usually 13-15.5 mm., and mantle rufous rather than grey in tone, the

1956 4\ Vol. 76

rufous on the shoulder therefore not showing up in contrast. In areas of
overlap with that species, wing also rather longer; and probably associated
with human dwellings in all such areas rather than virgin woodland.

Range and material examined: Western Angola (Benguella Town,

-Catumbella and Ndalla Tando), 16; Middle Zambesi (Chicowa-Zumbo—
Victoria Falls) and Lower Luangwa to as far north as 14° 32’ S., 10; Kafue
River (railway crossing), 2; Luangwa Valley, Mpika district (alongside
P. d. luangwae), 4; north-eastern Northern Rhodesia (Mpika north to
Kawambwa, Abercorn and the Belgian Congo boundary), 35; eastern
Northern Rhodesia (Fort Jameson and Lundazi), 4; Nyasaland, 17.
According to Chapin (1954)and Mackworth-Praed and Grant (1955), who |
follow in assigning all this material to P. g. ugandae, this form extends north
to the Sudan and the Gold Coast.

Remarks: Ten 3 from western Angola, collected by Dr. W. J. Ansorge
in 1905-8, have wing 80-— 87, average 83.6 mm., culmen 13.5-15 mm.; five
2 wing 79-83, average 81.0 mm., culmen 13-15 mm. These are evidently
the form described by Gyldenstolpe, Bull. B.O.C., 43, 1922, p. 33 as P. g.
zedlitzi. He gives the wing as 80-86 mm., so that they cannot be referable
to P. diffusus from that area. They seem in fact identical with material
from further east. Ten 3 from north-eastern Northern Rhodesia personally
sexed by me have wing 80-87, average 84.2 mm., culmen 14-15 mm.;
likewise nine 9, wing 79-83, average 80.2 mm., culmen 13-14.5 mm.

Specimens collected by me between late December and mid-May were

‘in breeding condition. Three 3 from alongside P. d. luangwae have wing

80, 85, 86, culmen 15, 15.5 (two) mm.; one 9, wing 81, culmen 15 mm.

: Specimens from eastern Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland have wing 77—
90, culmen 13-16 mm. Those from the Middle Zambesi and lower Luangwa
are not easily separated from the Portuguese East Africa series, assigned

_ above to P. d. diffusus. However, on the average the former are rufous rather

than grey on the mantle. Comparative measurements of the two series are:

P. g. ugandae, wing 79-86, average 82.4 mm.; culmen 12-14, average 12.9

mm.: P.d. diffusus, wing 78.5—86.5, average 81.6 mm.;culmen 12-13, average
12.5 mm. There is thus very little difference in measurements. It may be

that in this area some fusion between the two species has occurred. The
situation is well worthy of further investigation . The two specimens from
the Kafue River, in the Meinertzhagen collection, are typical P. g. ugandae
in colour, and both with culmen 14 mm. Due to the courtesy of Dr.

H. Schouteden, I have been able to examine some ninety specimens from

widespread localities in the southern Belgian Congo, south of 5° S., in the

Congo Museum, Tervuren. There were no P. diffusus among them, and all

appeared to be P. g. ugandae. And Dr. R. Verheyen has kindly allowed me

to examine the series recorded by him (1953) as P. griseus diffusus, from

the Upemba National Park. Certainly none of these either are P. diffusus,

and allowing for age and wear I consider that they also are P. g. ugandae.
2b. Passer griseus mosambicus van Someren.

Passer griseus mosambicus van Someren, Bull. B.O.C., 41, 1921, p. 114:
Lumbo, northern Portuguese East Africa. Differs from P. g. ugandae in
being darker above, especially on the mantle, which is more brown,
less rufous. Rather darker grey below.

_ Range: Sea-littoral of northern Portuguese East Africa, and according
to Chapin (1954), north to the Pangani River.

Vol. 76 42 1956

Remarks: Five specimens examined, from the Lurio River mouth and
Netia. Two in fresh dress from the former locality show the characters
given for this race quite well. In the absence of more extensive material, I
think it should be recognised.

Mention must also be made of Passer suahelicus Reichenow, regarded
by Mackworth-Praed and Grant (1955) as a monotypic species; see also
Bull. B.O.C., 64, 1944, p. 36. This is very like P. d. diffusus in the colour of
the upperside, but with less contrast between the grey of the crown and nape,
and the greyish brown of the mantle. It has a heavier bill, not dis-
tinguishable by measurements from P. griseus ugandae. Mackworth-Praed
and Grant (1955) record it from Northern Rhodesia and Portuguese East
Africa, but with the further material now available it is clear that the
specimens on which this is based are P. d. diffusus. I have examined four
specimens of P. suahelicus from the Rukwa area (where Mr. D. Vesey-
FitzGerald has collected both this and P. griseus ugandae), two from
Iringa, and one each from Nou in the Mbulu district, Shinyanga and the Loita
Plains in south-western Kenya. Like P. diffusus, it seems on the whole to
be confined to drier country than P. griseus. On colour it might well be
treated as conspecific with P. diffusus.

I am indebted to the following for advice :— Captain C. H. B. Grant,
Mrs. B. P. Hall, Miss G. M. Rhodes, and Mr. C. M. N. White, M.B.E.
The latter made valuable suggestions in regard to the origin of the two
species. »

References :—
Chapin, J. P., 1954. Birds of the Belgian Congo, 4. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 75B.
Mackworth-Praed, C. W., and Grant, C. H. B., 1955. Birds of Eastern and North

Eastern Africa, 2. London.
Verheyen, R., 1953. Exploration du Pare National de |’ Upemba. Fasc. 19. Brussels

A Case of Avian Tuberculosis in a Wild Wigeon

by Dr. KEITH RANDALL AND DR. JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 30th October, 1955

In searching the literature, we were surprised to find so few references ~

to tuberculosis in free-living wild duck. There is, in fact only one
confirmed case, in an American Wigeon, Anas americana Gmelin, which
was shot at Cowichan Bay, British Columbia, and reported by Cowan}.
It was an advanced case with involvement of most of the viscera, but no
details are given regarding typing. The only other reference we can
trace is of a case of presumed tuberculosis in a Grey Teal, Anas gibberi-
frons (Miller) from the Culleval Lake, New South Wales, Australia in
May 1952 2. This bird had lesions in the liver, spleen, intestines and
mesentery in which numerous acid-fast bacilli were demonstrated, but

unfortunately no culture could be made as the organs were received in

formalin by the author. Our own case therefore is the first in a free-
living wild duck in Britain or Europe.

The bird was an adult drake in perfect, normally coloured full plumage
and was found by Mrs. Marion Jones, wife of the Secretary of the Kent

Wildfowlers’ Association, beside a loch on South Ronaldsay in the

é

$
:

1956 43 Vol. 76

_ Orkney Islands on Tete 3rd, 1955. It was weak, unable to fly and
_ extremely wasted. We noticed that it had a rapid respiration rate and
that its right wing tended to droop. In view of this and the date, we
assumed that the bird was more likely to be diseased than pricked, and it
was therefore killed, the skin being preserved in J. G. H.’s collection and
the body dissected for pathological investigation.

The findings were as follows :—many large yellowish, caseous-looking
nodules were present in both lungs and in the thoracic and cervical
air-sacs. In addition, the lungs showed marked secondary collapse.
Similar large nodules were present in both shoulder joints, which were
in the process of destruction by this abnormal tissue. A further lesion
was present in the left biceps and others were found on the peritoneal
surface of the liver. The state of pneumatisation of the skull was normal
compared with other Wigeon of similar age and there was no vascular
engorgement. This may indicate that the disease had a fairly rapid onset
and spread.

Sections from the lung, left shoulder joint and left biceps were stained
by Haematoxylin and Eosin and Ziehl-Neilsen methods.

In the lung were seen numerous characteristic miliary caseating
tubercles, surrounded by a zone of large pale histiocytes and an occasional
Langhan’s giant cell. The intervening lung tissue in the material
examined showed collapse only—no broncho-pneumonic spread of the
disease was seen.

In the shoulder joint there was gross caseous necrosis destroying the
bony tissue and producing a characteristic cellular response. The lesion
in the muscle was well circumscribed with a large caseous centre and
similar granulation tissue surrounding it. In all slides, very large
numbers of small, pleomorphic acid-fast bacilli were identified in the
Z-N stained films.

Material for culture came from the shoulder joint. Growth occurred
moderately well on Loewenstein-Jensen and Finlayson’s media after 3—4
weeks as a smooth, homogeneous culture. Sub-cultures were sent to
Dr. A. McDiarmid (Agricultural Research Council Field Station,
Compton), who found it to be a typical smooth avian strain, being fully
virulent for Rabbits, producing a typical Yersin reaction with death in
three weeks.

Antibiotic sensitivity tests have been carried out using Loewenstein-
Jensen slopes having the various strengths of antibiotic incorporated in
the media. This strain was found to be sensitive to 3ug Streptomycin,
but resistant to 100 ug. Para-amino-salicylic acid (PAS) and to 100 ug.

Tso-nicotinic acid Hydrazide.

_ This suggests that, for this strain at any rate, Streptomycin might be of
therapeutic value, but that the other two antibiotics would not help.

Discussion. ‘This case shows a rather unusual distribution of lesions,
as the great majority of wild birds appear to become infected by way of
the alimentary tract?. Bacilli are passed in the droppings, later to be
eaten by another bird.

This Wigeon appears to be a case of primary respiratory Ahtesetlosie
with blood-borne spread to the skeletal system and peritoneal surface
of the liver. Skeletal tuberculosis is rare in wild birds, but Dr. James
M. Harrison? has described another case in a Sparrow Hawk, Accipiter

Vol. 76 44 1956

nisus nisus Linnaeus, in which a shoulder and knee were infected, in
addition to the deltoid and pectoral muscles. The lungs and air-sacs,
like the Wigeon, were also infected and the shoulder was thought to have
become involved by direct spread via the air-sac system to the parietal
surface of the sternum and thence to the axillary.

The occurrence of a case of avian tuberculosis occurring in a Wigeon in
the Orkneys indicates that the disease is probably endemic in those
islands. The chicken population is the highest per acre for any county
of Scotland® and in 1950 egg exports reached five million dozen. Chicken
are known to be susceptible to this disease, some investigations in
Germany and the U.S.A. putting the incidence between 5—7%°. Dr.
D. S. Barbour of the Animal Health Division, Scottish Ministry of
Agriculture tells us (in /itt.) that the incidence of clinical tuberculosis in
Orkney is low however, as the domestic fowls are well culled and not
kept beyond the second year. It has been noted that the tuberculin
testing of cattle in Orkney reveals a high incidence of non-specific
reactions, which may be due to a mild residual infection of avian
tuberculosis on heavily stocked land. In 1948, a veterinary officer
investigating an outbreak of tuberculosis on a farm in Orkney discovered
a Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus Linnaeus, which had died of tuberculosis of
the liver and in 1954 a domestic duck was also shown to have the disease.

It seems reasonable to suggest that the Wigeon contracted the disease
in the spring of 1955, when this species of duck in particular is so very
fond of grazing the fresh young grass, a habit which would bring it on to
ground infected by chicken. The mycobacteria excreted by birds can
survive for long periods in the soil, before entering another bird.

Major-General C. B. Wainwright has told us of a female Wigeon which
he found dead on November 24th, 1950 and which was suspected of
tuberculosis. A post-mortem was performed by the. Zoological Society
of London on behalf of the International Wildfowl Research Bureau, to
whom General Wainwright sent the duck. The report was. of tuber-
culosis of the lungs and air-sacs. In the mortality files of the I.W.R.B.
the Director, Dr. E. Hindle, has written “‘ unsatisfactory ” against this
record and we noted that the file refers to two Wigeon which is undoubtedly
wrong, as a second Wigeon sent by General Wainwright at the same time
was reported to him by the Zoo as having been shot. Acid-fast organisms
were found in the first Wigeon and there is a note that these were sent to
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for culture and
typing. Professor E. T. C. Spooner has very kindly been through all the
records at the School, but can find no trace of the Wigeon culture. It is
unfortunate that this case was incomplete, as it could have proved of much
interest. The similarity with our case is remarkable and there may prove
to be more than just coincidence in the fact that the species was also a
Wigeon and that the only other proved case was in an American Wigeon.

Dr. E. Hindle has told us (in Jitt.) of an epidemic in Mute Swans,
Cygnus olor Linnaeus, which occured at Possil Marsh, near Glasgow in
1936. He went to the marsh “‘ where a large number of dead swans were
lying about and there were also many sick birds. I caught up two of
these, both immatures, and brought them back to the University and
they reported that the birds were suffering from avian tuberculosis.”
This interesting observation is the only other record we have traced of

1941

1956 45 Vol. 76

tuberculosis in free-living wildfowl and it appears therefore that epidemics

can occur at times, although the Mute Swan is perhaps more a semi-

domestic than a genuine wild fowl.

The incidence of tuberculosis in wildfowl in captivity indicate that in
all probability no species is immune. The Reports of the Wildfowl
Trust give avian tuberculosis as the cause of death in a New Zealand
Scaup, Aythya novae-seelandiae (Gmelin) and African Yellow Bill,
Anas undulata undulata (Du Bois)’, and two Red-breasted Mergansers,
Mergus serrator Linnaeus’, while one of us (J. G. H.) has recently
preserved an adult Pink-footed Goose, Anser arvensis brachyrhynchus
(Baillon), from the Trust collection, which had died of this disease.

The results of the sensitivity tests suggest the possibility of treating
infected birds, especially where such excessively rare and valuable species
as the Hawaiian Goose, Branta sandvicensis (Vigors,) are now being
conserved in captivity, as at the Wildfowl Trust. Diagnosis may well
prove possible in a bird with a wasting disease by identifying the acid-fast
organisms in the droppings, except in the minority of cases which are not
alimentary. The main differential diagnosis is between this and an
Aspergillosis infection. Mr. J. V. Beer? is developing a new swabbing
technique at the Wildfowl Trust for its detection and as the disease is
respiratory, it may also prove applicable to cases of respiratory tuber-
culosis. X-ray examinations may also prove helpful in the differential
diagnosis. Dr. James M. Harrison published several characteristic
films of the tuberculous Sparrow Hawk’, which revealed a distribution of
lesions which could not have been due to Aspergillosis.

Treatment of avian tuberculosis would appear possible by intra-
muscular injections of Streptomycin, the massive pectoral muscles being
a suitable site, the dose being calculated on a body weight ratio. It
would seem essential for treatment to start without waiting for the
diagnosis to be confirmed, owing to the time taken over the laboratory
investigations, and the fact that the disease probably runs a fairly rapid
course. Research on these lines should prove of much interest and will
have a practical application.

Summary: A case of confirmed avian tuberculosis is described in a
Wigeon. It is the first time the disease has been demonstrated in a free-
living wild duck in Europe, and only the second on record.

Sensitivity tests with the three main antibiotics used in the treatment of
human tuberculosis suggest the possibility of treating tuberculous wildfowl
with Streptomycin.

Acknowledgments :—Dr. A. McDiarmid, of the Agricultural Research

Station, Compton, has been the greatest assistance to us in typing the
organism and in discovering references. We are also most grateful to

-Dr, D.S. Barbour, Miss P. Barclay-Smith, Mr. J. V. Beer, Mr, J. Davidson,

Dr. E. Hindle,.Dr. Osman Hill, Mr. Peter Scott, Professor E. T. C.
Spooner and Major- General C. B. Wainwright for their advice and help.
~The Pathological Laboratory staffs at Orpington and Sevenoaks
Hospitals have assisted us in all the investigations.

References :—
1 Cowan, Il. Mc.T. ‘ Report of Provincial Game Commission, British Columbia.”

Vol. 76 46 1956

2 Sinkovic, B. ‘* Tuberculosis in a Grey Teal Duck.’ Australian Vet. Journal,
July 1954, p. 215.

3 Harrison, Jeffery G. ‘“* Avian Tuberculosis.”’ St. Thomas’s Hospital Gazette,
Vol. 44, 1946.

4 Harrison, James M. “A Case of Tuberculosis in a wild Sparrow Hawk.”
Journ. Path. and Bact., Vol. LX, No. 4, 1948.

> Marwick, H. ‘“‘ Orkney.’ The County Books, 1951.

6 Feldman, W.H. ‘“ Avian Tuberculosis Infections.” 1938.

7 Severn Wildfowl Trust Report, 1951-2.

8 Severn Wildfowl Trust Report, 1952-3.

® Beer, J. V. “* Aspergillosis in Wild Geese : a new technique for its detection.”
Wildfowl Trust Report, 1953-4.

On a Collection of Birds made by

Flight Lieutenant David L. Harrison in Oman, Arabia
PART II

by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON :
Received 6th October, 1955. .

Striated Scops Owl, Otus scops brucei (Hume).

A female of this species was shot at El Ain, Buraimi Oasis on September
6th, 1953. This species was not recorded by de Schauensee and Ripley
(loc. cit.) ; Meinertzhagen (/oc. cit.) refers to it as known in Arabia from
three specimens, one from Buria, January 19th, one from Madriga,
November Ist and the third from Asir on March 27th, though he states
that they were fairly common in all these localities. This is the first
record of this owl for Oman. Wing measurement = 149 mm.
Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus europaeus Linnaeus.

A specimen of the nominate form of the Nightjar was collected at
El Ain, Buraimi Oasis on 29th September, 1953. The bird is a first
winter male and has rounded whitish-ochraceous spots on the outer
primaries, which do not reach the shafts.

Grant and Praed!° have called attention to the fact that neither on
colour nor On measurement can the race C.e. meridionalis be upheld.
In investigating thc Oman specimen, the one point which was very
apparent was the overall darkness of the populations of this species in
the Iberian peninsula. In this respect, it was unfortunate that Hartert'™
chose-Greece as the “‘ terra typica’’ of the race, where the birds are not
only not invariably smaller, but are almost invariably on colour like the
nominate birds. Had he selected the Iberian peninsula or N. Africa, I
think the race could have been upheld on colour alone.

In discussing this species Johansen’* refers to the race C.e. sarudnyi
Hartert, which its author states to be equally as dark as the nominate
form, and possessing as a diagnostic character, the large white spot on
the first primary, stating also that it is intermediate in size between the
nominate race and C.e. unwini. Quoting Spangler (Birds of the U.S.S.R.,
Vol. I.) Johansen gives as the distribution of C.e. sarudnyi the whole of —
Turkestan, restricting the form C.e. unwini to the Himalayan region.

It would seem that C.e. europaeus conforms to the cline concept and is
darkest in the extreme west becoming paler and greyer in the east. Birds

1956 | 47 Vol. 76

from the Balkans and from Czechoslovakia are both in size and colour
very close to C.e. sarudnyi, though lacking the large white spot on the
first primary, the character described by Hartert (/oc. cit.) for that race.

The Oman specimen in general colour matches many of the eastern
birds, but it lacks the large white spot on the first primary. It is only a
trifle paler and greyer than the Balkan and Czechoslovak specimens. It
is also questionable whether C.e. sarudnyi can be precisely geographically
related. As a racial character in the C. europaeus group the white
primary spots are also not entirely reliable, and I have at least one
British breeding bird, a very typical C.e. europaeus in every other
respect, except that the white spots on the outer primaries are extensive
on all three, that on the first reaching up to the shaft, and even
involving both vanes of the second and third primaries in both wings. It
is clear that there must be a considerable interchange of genes between
the populations in southern Europe east of the Iberian peninsula
and south-western Asia, as well as between populations of south-west
Asia and those of the territories to the north and eastwards as far as the
Yenesei. In this vast area, which is accredited as the breeding distribu-
tion of C.e. europaeus, there must be very many intergrading individuals,
some in the east no doubt showing trends towards C.e. unwini, the so-
called C.e. sarudnyi, others inclining to the nominate form and others
resembling the race C.e. meridionalis in its more typical characterisation
as exemplified by the populations of N. Africa and the Iberian peninsula.

It is upon these considerations that the Oman specimen has been
referred to the nominate race.

This species is not recorded by de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) nor
by Goodwin and Guichard (loc. cit.). Meinertzhagen’s (/oc. cit.) only
Arabian record is of one obtained at Azraq on October 28th. The present
specimen represents a new record for Oman. Wing measurement =
192 mm.
Bee-Eater, Merops apiaster Linnaeus

de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) record seeing the Bee-Eater once
only when a male was seen at As Sib. Méeinertzhagen (/oc. cit.) states
that it has occurred at Muscat in April. |

A specimen, an adult was obtained on 25th September, 1953 at Sharm,
where several were seen on that day.

Little Green Bee-Eater, Merops orientalis muscatensis Sharpe

There is some doubt as to the validity of this form, particularly in view
of the remarks of Guichard and Goodwin (/oc. cit.). Only a single
specimen was collected, an adult in full moult, at Buraimi Oasis on
5th September, 1953. This bird has a bill measurement from the skull
of 30.5 mm. and an exposed culmen measurement of 24 mm.

The species is recorded by de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) from
Muscat, Danta, Mutrah and Hajer. Guichard and Goodwin (Joc. cit.)
found it at Sharjah in December and February and Buraimi in January.
Finch Lark Eremopteryx nigriceps affinis Blyth

Unfortunately only a single specimen of this species was collected.
This is by plumage an adult male, and was shot on 17th September, 1953
at El Ain, Buraimi Oasis. On 21st April, 1954 a small party was seen
beyond Jebal Faiyah on the way to the Wadi Khor. The specimen
agrees well with a series from southern Arabia and India and I agree fully

Vol. 76 48 1956

with Meinertzhagen (/oc. cit.) in uniting E. n. sincipitalis Blyth and
E. n. affinis Blyth.
Crested Lark Galerida cristata altirostris Brehm

An adult male was collected on 21st September, 1953 at El Ain,
Buraimi Oasis. This species was stated to be not uncommon in the area.
Bifasciated Lark Certhilauda alaudipes doriae Salvadori

An adult female and a*juvenile were collected, the former on 21st April,
1954 at Oad el Matina, the latter on 2nd June, 1954 at Sharjah. The
adult, in which the ovary was moderately enlarged, is within the individual
variation of C. a. doriae, although a trifle sandier than typical examples
of that form. On measurement it is also within the range of C. a. doriae.
The juvenile is of the same pale greyish sandy brown as the adult.

This species is not recorded by de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.), but
Browne (Joc. cit.) records seeing a party of five near Masirah in June.
The adult Oman specimen was collected in a terrain of sand-desert with
a considerable growth of tufty grass and scrub, and was stated to be not
uncommon, but was always flushed singly.

Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti ? ssp.

An example of the Desert-Lark was collected at Buraimi Oasis on
20th August, 1953. Its sex was indeterminable. This specimen has
been compared with the following races: the nominate; A. d.
samharensis, isabellinus, saturatus, cheesemani, cozi and azizi. On its
general characters it is nearest to A. d. deserti, although not quite identical,
being a little less grey and a trifle paler and sandier than the majority.
From all the other races mentioned it was well differentiated. As already
indicated the Buraimi specimen is very close to the nominate race, and it
is in fact almost identical to a specimen, a male, in the British Museum
series collected on the Burida Pass, 140 miles S.S.W. of Kalat, Pakistan
on 30th August, 1933, a parallel date with the Oman specimen. Recently
de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) have separated the Desert-Larks of
Oman, east of the Jebel Al Akhdhar, in the Muscat district, as A. d.
taimuri, and describe the birds as being closest to A. d. saturatus Ogilvie
Grant. The general description of this form is that of “ an exceptionally
dull-coloured greyish race of Ammomanes deserti.”

Meinertzhagen,‘? in dealing with this species stresses the extreme
variability of all populations, and has placed in the synonomy under the
nominate form the races phoenicuroides, fratercula, parvirostris, orientalis
and katherinae. With such a variable species, it is clear that considered
opinions will always be at variance, see for instance Dementiev et alia,*’,
Vaurie!® and Bates’®.

It is clear, on geographical considerations that there must be an
appreciable intergradation between some of the forms described, which
doubtless explains the difficulty of the choice between, as Meinertzhagen
so aptly puts it ‘‘ atom splitting” and “ dough lumping ’’, in a species
presenting a peculiarly sensitive susceptibility of relationship between
soil colouration and individual variation.

Measurements of the Oman specimen : Wing 102 mm, bill (from skull)
16.5 mm, (exposed culmen) 15 mm., tarsus, 23 mm., tail 62.5 mm.
Yellow-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus capensis xanthopygos (Hemprich and
Ehrenberg)

The earliest record for this species for Arabia appears to be that of

1956 | 49 7 Vol. 76

Sharpe’, who mentions two adult specimens from Muscat, which he
states ‘‘ will probably be found to be about the extreme eastern range of
the species’? ; de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) write that “it is
common in the palm gardens and cultivated areas”? and mention the
Wadi Ghaur (fide Guichard and Goodwin), Muscat and Bin Ju’ai
(Kinnear)!®.

The Buraimi specimen, in which the moult is not yet completed, was
collected on 19th September, 1953. I can confirm the findings of de
Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.) that the tail coverts are a slightly paler
saffron yellow than south Arabian birds.

Pleschanka’s Chat Oenanthe leucomela leucomela (Pallas).

An adult male was collected on 15th April, 1954 at Sharjah in sand-
desert with scanty clumps of vegetation. The bird would appear to be a
somewhat late migrant and its gonads were but little enlarged. Guichard
and Goodwin (/oc. cit.) collected specimens near Sharjah in March and
at El Kharran in February.

Willow-Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus acredula Linnaeus

Three specimens of the Willow-Warbler were taken in Oman. Two
were males, being obtained at Sharjah on 16th April and 24th May, 1954.
The third specimen, for which I am indebted to Squadron-Leader E. A.
Chapman, R.A.F., was picked up in a mummified state at Sharjah on
6th May, 1953. All three are pronouncedly white below and lack any
suggestion of yellowish tinge on the upper breast. Measurements :
Wing, 69 mm. (2), 70 mm. Browne (/oc. cit.) records “leaf warblers ”’ as
common on passage, adding “‘the majority seemed to be P. trochilus
(Linnaeus).”’ Examples were obtained on 13th April and 28th May. The
subspecies is not stated.

Wood-Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein)

An example of the Wood-Warbler, a female, was obtained at Sharjah
on 3rd May, 1954. This species does not appear to have been noted for
Oman, though Browne (/oc. cit.) records it for southern Arabia on
19th October. The present specimen was collected from an isolated
tree in sand-desert.

Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata neumanni (Poche)

This race of the Spotted Flycatcher was detected on both the spring
and autumn passages, a male being obtained at Sharjah on 3rd May, 1954
and another male on 19th September, 1953 at El Ain, Buraimi Oasis.

- This species is not recorded by de Schauensee and Ripley (/oc. cit.), but
is mentioned by Browne (Joc. cit.), though the race is not specified. The |
two Oman birds are typical of M. s. neumanni in having very pale and
suffused pectoral markings. Measurements : Wing 87, 91 mm.

Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor aucheri Bonaparte

A sub-adult example of this race was killed at Sharjah on 3rd May, 1954.
It was observed commonly around Buraimi and along the Trucial coast.
Meinertzhagen® states that this is “‘ the usual resident Shrike of Arabia ”’
and that it is replaced in the north of the Aden Protectorate and in the
Yemen by the darker form L. e. buryi. This species was not recorded by
_ Browne (loc. cit.), while Guichard and Goodwin (Joc. cit.) collected a
male at Buraimi and two females at Sharjah in December and March.
This latter bird they state, shows some approach in darkness to L. e. buryi.
_ de Schauensee and Ripley (Joc. cit.) collected examples at Hajer, Batah,

Vol. 76 50 1956

Aiassam, Watsoi, Ruia and Muscat. The Sharjah bird now recorded,
was collected from an isolated tree in sand-desert and its crop contained
small lizards only.

Rufous Shrike Lanius cristatus phoenicuroides (Schalow)

Two Rufous Shrikes were collected in Oman, one an adult male on 13th
April, 1954 at Mugheim about 17 miles north-west of Tarif, the second, also
a male by plumage on 23rd September, 1953 at El Ain, Buraimi Oasis. It.
may be safely presumed that both birds were migrants, and Flight
Lieutenant Harrison states that the species was not common. When the
spring specimen was collected he noted “‘ one or two shrikes seen along
the littoral.’ The autumn specimen was a single bird and was shot in a
date palm garden. :

Browne (/oc. cit.) records a female from Ruia, Masirah Island, and
Guichard and Goodwin (/oc. cit.) record it from Buraimi and Muscat in
January and from Sharjah in February and March. They comment that
the females from Muscat are rather intermediate between phoenicuroides
and isabellinus, being paler above than the former, but having the head
darker and redder than the back. It was not recorded by de Schauensee
and Ripley (/oc. cit.). :

The two specimens now recorded match the less red examples of ©
L. c. phoenicuroides, having greyish red-brown mantles and redder
foreheads and crowns. The spring example is the more typical. Both —
have small white wing-bars. :

It is evident from the literature that there is considerable confusion in —
the phoenicuroides-isabellinus complex, and there is wide variation in the
breeding distributional maps published by different authorities. This matter
is dealt with at some length by Olivier!®, wherein the extreme variability of
the group is stressed. That intergradation of L. c. phoenicuroides and
L. c. isabellinus is recognisable is admitted by all, while to add to the
complexity of the gene-interchange in the group, L. c. speculigerus (if a
recognisable race) enhances the genetic plasticity.

The instructive breeding distribution maps published by Olivier
(loc. cit., p. 86, 87) should be closely studied, showing as they do the
different views held at that time, 1944, by Hartert and Steinbacher, and
Buturlin and Dementiev, and these should again be compared with the
map by Dementiev et alia‘? in the recently published Birds of the U.S.S.R.
Meinertzhagen® shows clearly the breeding areas where “‘ the majority are
true to type ’’, very significant words, and in discussing allied forms he
omits any mention of L. c. speculigerus, which Hartert?°, after examining
the type with that of L. c. isabellinus, placed in the synonomy of that
form. Wing measurements of the two Oman birds, 94, 89.5 mm.
House-Sparrow Passer domesticus hufufae (Ticehurst and Cheeseman)

One adult male and two juveniles, one male, the other unsexed, were
collected, the first at Tawi Rashid on 21st April, 1954, the latter two on 29th
August and 19th September, 1953 at Buraimi. This form was recorded from
Masna’a, Hajer, Rina, Muscat and Batah by de Schauensee and Ripley
(Joc. cit.), and from Sharjah by Guichard and Goodwin (Joc. cit.).

Flight-Lieut. Harrison notes ‘“‘ one pair only seen near Tawi Rashid
Well in sand-desert (sparsely vegetated) many miles from human
habitation (ca. 30 miles inland from Sharjah, on the Wadi Khor track.) —
The more juvenile of the two immatures was collected in “‘ tamarisk scrub

1956 5 , , Vol. 76

desert in red sandstone mountain country beyond Suwara. Flocks.”’
Measurement : Wing = 71 mm.
Yellow-throated Sparrow Petronia flavicollis transfuga (Hartert)

An adult male of this species, which is new to Oman, but which has been
recorded for Iraq (Ticehurst et alia®, Allouse (/oc. cit.), was shot in an
isolated date grove at Howelet, Wadi Khor in the western Hajr, on
21st April, 1954, where a small party was seen in rugged mountainous
country.

Flight-Lieut. Harrison noted that the birds had a distinctive call, not
unlike that of a sparrow, and in this connection the late Hugh Whistler?!
wrote “ its monotonous chirping note recalls but is different from, the chirp
of the Common House-Sparrow.”’

The specimen was compared with series from Pakistan, Persia and
Iraq and is identical with these. Wing measurement, 77 mm.

References : —

1 de Schauensee, R. M. and Ripley, S. D. “* Birds of Oman and Muscat. Proc.
Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., CV., 1953.

2 Browne, P. W., “‘ Notes on birds observed in South Arabia.” Ibis, 92, 1950.

3 Guichard, K. M. and Goodwin, D., ‘* Notes on birds collected and observed in
Oman and the Hadramaut.’’ Ibis, 94, 1952.

4 Hartert, E. and Jackson, A. C. ‘“* Notes on Some Waders.’ Ibis, Ser. X,
Vol. 3, 1915.

5 Ticehurst, C. B., et alia. ‘* Birds of the Persian Gulf Islands.’ Journ. Bomb.
Nat. Hist. Soc. XXX, 4, 1925.

6 Meinertzhagen, R. M., “‘ The Birds of Arabia.” 1954.

7 Ticehurst, C. B., “‘ Saunders’ Tern.” Bull. B.O.C., XLI, 1921.

8 Ticehurst, C. B., “‘ The Birds of Mespotamia.’”’ Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc.
XXVIII, 4, 1922.

® Allouse, B., ‘‘ The Avifauna of Iraq.’ 1953.

10 Grant, C. H. B. and Mackworth-Praed, C. W., ** On Caprimulgus europaeus
Linneaus and its Races in Eastern Africa.” Bull. B.O.C., LV, 1937.

11 Hartert, E. ‘°* Notes on some Species of the Families Cypselidae, Caprimulgidae
and Podargidae, etc.’ Ibis, Ser. VI, Vol. Il, 1896.

12 Johansen, H. ‘‘ Die Vogelfauna Westsibiriens.” J.f.0. 96, 4, 1955.

13 Meinertzhagen, R. M. “‘ Review of the Alaudidae.’’ Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.
121, 1, 1950.

14 Dementiev, G. et alia. ‘‘ The Birds of the U.S.S.R.” 1954.

15 Vaurie, G. “ Asiatic Larks.’’ Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. 97, Article 5,
1951.

16 Bates, G. L. “‘ Birds of Jidda and Central Arabia collected in 1934, chiefly by
Mr. Philby.” Ibis, Ser. XIII., Vol. VI, 1936.

17 Sharpe, R. B. ‘“‘ On a Collection of Birds from the vicinity of Muscat.” Ibis,
Ser. 5, Vol. IV, 1886.

4 rae N. B. ‘* On Some Birds from Central South Arabia.’ Ibis, Ser. 13,
Vol. 1, ‘

19 Olivier, G. ‘* Monograph des Pies-Griéches du Genre Lanius.”’ 1944.

20 Hartert, E. ‘“‘ Vogel der Palaeark Fauna.” 1910.

*t Whistler, H. ‘* Popular Handbook of Indian Birds.” 1941.

Clams as Predators of Birds

by StR PHILIP MANSON-BAHR
Received 8th November, 1955

I have read the communication of Dr. James M. Harrison on ‘‘Fish and
other Aquatic Fauna as Predators of Birds’’. (Bull. B.O.C. Vol. 75, pp. 110-
113, 1955) with great interest and would agree with him that this is a most

er: Oe Or “i- tJ
Vol. 76 2 5D _ 1956

interesting subject, to which insufficient attention has so far been paid. —
In the Pacific, where numbers of waders congregate during the winter
months, it has long been known that quite a proportion of these migrants
may be seen hopping about on one Jeg. During my last visit to the Fiji
Islands in March, 1950 I was able to make some observations on this point.
_ The main sufferer is the Wandering Tatler, Heterosclerus incanus. It is
estimated that 10% of this species suffer from amputation of the /eft leg
(invariably so). In addition to this species, a few mutilated examples of
the Eastern Golden Plover, Charadrius dominicus fulvus Gmelin and the
Eastern Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica baueri have been observed.
Although no direct proof is forthcoming, yet it is generally believed that
this is the work of the Giant Clam, Tridacna gigantea, which abounds on
the coral reefs. These bivalves are provided with very powerful hinges and
the shell closes with a snap by reflex action on contact with the birds’ legs.
Amputation takes place at the tibio-tarsal joint.

A Strange Injury to a Ringed Plover
(Charadrius hiaticula tundrae Lowe)

by CAPT. CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 22nd November, 1955

The interesting note by Dr. James M. Harrison in the Bulletin, Vol. 75,
No. 8, November, 1955, on the subject of “Fish and other Aquatic Fauna
as Predators of Birds’’ prompts me to record a most unusual incident in
Uganda. On the evening of 6th May 1949, at Entebbe on Lake Victoria
a Ringed Plover was brought to me which had been found on the fore-
shore crippled and absolutely helpless with a gigantic, carnivorous water
bug Hydrocyrius columbiae, about 3 inches long and more than one inch
broad, fixed firmly to the body under one wing. The bird, which could
not be induced to feed, was still alive next day, but as it seemed to be
seriously injured it was chloroformed and examined. It was then discovered
that the bug had been feeding on its victim’s liver having pierced the body
with its long proboscis. Otherwise the bird’ was perfectly normal and
healthy. The huge insect had complete control over the bird’s move- —
ments and had rendered it incapable of flight. One surmises it must have
literally sprung—or flown—on to the plover while it was wading in the
shallows and then clung tenaciously, giving its victim no chance of getting
rid of it. I was only able to remove this super-bug with considerable —
difficulty. H. columbiae is a most formidable and repulsive member of the —
family Belastomidae; it will attack small, disabled fish.

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Notices

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BULLETIN»

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BULLETIN
OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number 4
Published: 3rd April, 1956

The five hundred and forty-seventh meeting was held jointly with the
B.O.U. at the offices of the Zoological Society of London, at Regent’s
Park, on Thursday, 15th March.

Chairman: DR. W. H. THORPE.
Members present: B.O.C. 54; B.O.U. 40; Guests 43; Total 137.

Notes on African Larks
PART II
by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE

Received 10th October, 1955

In this second instalment of studies of African larks I deal with two
further sections of the genus Mirafra which form well defined units,
numbering them consecutively with the groups discussed in part 1.

3. Mirafra africanoides (Smith). This species stands alone. In its.
distribution it is analogous to many species of Mirafra since it occurs in
low rainfall open savanna in south-western Africa and reappears in
north-east Africa. The tail pattern is close to the larks in group two
since the tail is uniformly dark except for a narrow white outer web to the
outermost feather. The wing pattern exhibits well marked bright rufous
Outer margins on the basal half of the outer webs of the primaries,
extending almost to the tips of the outer webs of the outer secondaries,
and forming a distinct rufous wing patch. In habits M. africanoides is
largely arboreal but has no flapping or clapping flight.

_ 4. The clapper larks. The two species M. apiata (Vieillot) and
M. rufocinnamomea (Salvadori) form a distinct group at once recognisable
from other groups of the genus by the wing clapping habit. I discussed
the general characters of the southern and central African races in
Bull. B.O.C. 66. pp. 13-15, 1945. More recently Macdonald (The Ibis :
1952. pp. 629-635) has come to almost identical views for the races in
‘South Africa. It would be tempting to unite all these larks into a single
‘Species, but there are certain objections to this course at present. In

Vol. 76 3 54 1956

the apiata group the rufous on the wing forms a broad band across both
webs of the primaries, in the rufocinnamomea group this is not so, the
rufous on the outer webs and that on the inner webs being divided by a
dark zone along the shaft. No intergradation between the two types of
wing pattern has yet been discovered. Secondly there may be an overlap
in the ranges for M. apiata kalaharica (Roberts) ranges to Dautsa in
Ngamiland (male in my collection collected by L. D. Vesey-Fitzgerald on
27.10.54) and therefore must come very close to the range of M. rufo-
cinnamomea mababiensis (Roberts) if in fact overlap does not actually
occur. Thirdly there are behavioural differences ; the apiata group
whistles during its flights, the rufocinnamomea group is notoriously silent
on the wing and I do not know of any authentic singing on the wing in
this species. Finally the apiata group is especially associated with more
arid and open country than the very adaptable rufocinnamomea races.
Mirafra africanoides (Smith).

I reviewed the southern races on the basis of material in the Transvaal
Museum (Ibis: 1947. pp. 419-420. Since then much more material
has come to hand from critical localities which shows that various
modifications in the arrangement are needed.

M.a. africanoides (Smith).

Roberts proposed to restrict the type locality to Litakun, near Kuruman
but Mr. J. D. Macdonald has kindly informed me that Smith’s types do
not agree with birds from Griqualand West but are darker and agree with
specimens from Colesburg, which he would regard as the type locality of
the nominate race. He suggests using harei Rbts. as the name of the
lighter birds from Griqualand West but had no topotypical harei from
Windhoek. I have a series from Binsenheim, south of Windhoek which
are much lighter and less streaked than birds from Griqualand West, and
the latter cannot possibly be called harei. The darker colour of birds
from Colesburg suggests comparison with M. a. austinrobertsi White from
the Transvaal but no specimens are available in the British Museum of
this race. .

The racial divisions in this area need study with much more material ;
dark and light birds seem to have a rather spotty distribution. 100 miles
north west of Colesburg at Hopetown, Mrs. Hall (in /itt.) informs me that
birds are pale like others from Kuruman. Two from Kimberley lent by
Mr. R. H. Smithers from the National Museum, Bulawayo are darker
than others seen from Griqualand West, and 100 miles north-east of
Kimberley at Bloemhof, the Transvaal Museum has dark specimens
referable to austinrobertsi. J have also seen a lighter bird from Mahalapye,
Bechuanaland in the National Museum, Bulawayo which agrees quite well
with the pale Griqualand west population. On the material which I have
seen, the darker birds seem to have a more eastern range from Colesburg,
Kimberley, Bloemhof, Pretoria, Nylstroom and Waterberg in the
Transvaal ; west of them occur paler birds at Prieska, Fourteen streams,
Barkly West, Kuruman, Hopetown, Mahalapye. But I am not satisfied
that clear cut ranges for two or more races can yet be properly defined.
Nor is the extension north west into South West Africa of the paler of
these populations clear for few specimens seem to be available from that
area. Single specimens from Aus and White Rand, near Gibeon are much
too pale and lightly streaked above to be assigned there,

— 1956 55 Vol. 76

_M. a. vincenti (Roberts).' |
In 1947 only the very worn original series of the Southern Rhodesia
_tace at Pretoria had been available. More material in good plumage has
now been examined through the kindness of Mr. Smithers ; these show
that this race is not unlike the birds discussed above under the nominate
form. It differs in being duller, less reddish above with heavy black
feather centres, especially in the streaking on the head top ; the breast
spotting better developed.

M. a. mossambiquensis (Pinto).

Described (1952 : . Bol. Soc. Est. Mocamb. 2. p. 5) since my revision ;
the type locality is Maquese, southern Portuguese East Africa. Dr.
Rosa Pinto has kindly enabled me to see two examples. This race is much
paler above than either of the foregoing, though apparently locally
variable, palest at Maquese and Maue-ele, more reddish to the south and
west at Bela Vista, Marracuene and Massingir. (Cf. Lamm. Ostrich :
1953. 24. p. 4). No contiguous populations in the Union of South
Africa seem to be known and there is no doubt that the two specimens
examined are much paler than vincenti, austinrobertsi or africanoides,
varying from a pale reddish to greyish fawn above.

M. a. harei (Roberts).

This name has been constantly misapplied in the past ; Roberts
always used it for the darkest of the populations of South-west Africa,
and IJ followed him in 1947, although I noted that the type was a pale
bird. I have now examined the following new material : 1 White Rand,
near Gibeon ; 6 Bissenheim, S. of Windhoek ; 2 plain of Teufelsbach,
N. of Windhoek (topotypes of isse/i Hoesch and Niethammer) ; 4 Osona,
Okahandja ; 1 Karibib ; 1 Erongo. All these birds agree well ; they

: differ from the darkest population to the east and north-east in being much

lighter and more yellowish above with less streaking. Roberts, owing to

his misapplication of garei, named them M. a. omaruru, and this name in

‘my view is clearly a synonym of harei. This race ranges from Franz-

‘fontein to Otjimbinque and Aus, Omaruru, Okahandja, Windhoek and

Gibeon ; a single specimen from Eckenberg, 35 miles north-east of

Okahandja shows some traces of intergradation with gobabisensis (Roberts) _

in its richer head top and face. I cannot find any grounds to support the

recognition of isse/i.

M. a. gobabisensis (Roberts).

Thss race ranges to the east and north-east of harei from Alice and
Gobabis to Osire and the Waterberg and provisionnally-to Outjo. The
fresh material now available consists of 4 from Alice (s.w. of Gobabis),
6 from Osire and 1 from Gobabis, the latter lent by the National Msueum,
Bulawayo. Compared with harei these are all richer and redder in
colour, especially on the crown, face and wing margins ; the streaking
on the upperside is likewise more pronounced. This race is not entirely
uniform ; on the material now to hand the five birds from Alice and
Gobabis are rather lighter than the six from Osire suggesting a cline to
M. a. rubidior. But Mrs. Hall writes that birds from Waterberg and
from Gobabis in the British Museum are all richly coloured. These are
the dark birds to which the name /arei was formerly incorrectly applied.
M. a. rubidior (White).

Described in Bull. B,O.C, 1955. (75), p. 29 from Ozondache. There

Vol. 76 56 1956

are now four examples of this red race from the type locality and Okaputa.
The red of the upperside is a dark foxy red, much darker and richer than
in the last mentioned form. So far only known from a comparatively
small area north of the Waterberg and Otjiwarongo. More collecting
will be needed to work out its full distribution.

M. a. sarwensis (Roberts).

Lighter than any of the other populations of South West Africa, being
a light pinky rufous above, much lighter than gobabisensis and less
yellowish red than harei. Birds of this type occur from east of Etoscha
pan to the western Kalahari as far as Ghanzi, but not in Ngamiland.
Tsumebensis (Roberts) founded on a single worn bird is a synonym. My —
conclusions on this race and its range in South West Africa agree with
those of Mr. Macdonald.

M. a. makarikarii (Roberts).

In 1947 I had only seen a single example ; through the kindness of the ©
National Museum, Bulawayo I have now seen a series from Ngamiland
and Makarikari pan. They are an inconstant series, all separable from
sarwensis by a further loss of red pigment, and on the whole, rather
yellowish sandy-grey above. This is noticeable on the head top, wing
margins and face especially. Two out of four from Makarikari and
Nata are very pale and greyish with light streaking, but the other two are
not separable from some Ngamiland birds.

There is probably some intergradation with sarwensis from Ngamiland
south west which accounts for the slightly less grey range of variation in
Ngamiland birds but none of them is as vinous red as sarwensis, and a very
freshly moulted bird from Tsotsoroga contrasts well with equally fresh
sarwensis. I believe that it is best to include all these birds under
makarikarii whilst recognising that Ngamiland birds show traces of ©
intergradation with sarwensis.

M. a. trapnelli (White).

Colder and more greyish-brown than the last race ; birds from Balovale
are markedly brownish above compared with any of the birds included
under makarikarii. A series of five lent by the National Museum,
Bulawayo from south west Barotseland is lighter above. They lack
the rusty yellow tinge of many Ngamiland birds but are very near to the
palest and greyest extreme of makarikarii from: Makarikari pan. It
would have been easier to define the races if the north Bechuanaland bird ©
had been named from Ngamiland, enabling one to recognise a slight §
trend to pallor at Makarikari pan. As Balovale birds are a colder and
darker brownish shade above, I have no doubt of the validity of trapnelli,—
and I think it advisable to include birds from south west Barotseland bee f
them, recognising a trend to pallor in that area. z
The pattern of colour variation.

The pattern of colour variation is remarkably constant in Southern —
Africa. Reddish races occur from the Cape Province to Southern”
Rhodesia and South West Africa, differing in shade of redness, brownness
4or yellowness, and in intensity of streaking on the upper surface. Between (

hem from Bechuanaland to western Northern Rhodesia are interposed _
grey backed populations. Narrow zones of intergradation may exist
west of Ngamiland. The population of southern Mozambique is
: solated, and apparently inconstant, some birds being very like the grey —

1956 af Vol. 76

backed Bechuanaland birds and others more reddish above. It may

well be that the red or grey colour of the back is very simply controlled,
and that the process of selection in southern Mozambique is incomplete
and the population there still quite unstable.

The East African populations seem likewise to have not yet reached a
full degree of stability. I discussed them in Bull. B.O.C. 1953, pp. 87-88.
Further data since then confirms the fact that the birds of most of Kenya
colony are strongly reddish above, while those from British Somaliland
and from southernmost Kenya and northern Tanganyika are colder and
more brownish or sandy above. Mr. J. G. Williams of the Coryndon
Museum, Nairobi kindly drew my attention to the very richly coloured
birds found about Makindu and Simba in eastern Kenya, associated with
red soils. Buta series from the Matthews range recently collected includes
some very similar birds, as well as others paler and pinker. Dr. A. L.
Rand has informed me that three from Bali and Arusi in Ethiopia in the
Chicago Natural History Museum are very similar to Simba birds. Mr.
Williams has also raised the question as to whether M. a. intercedens and
M. a. alopex are really conspecific since he collected both within twenty
miles of each other in British Somaliland, intercedens in dry bush areas and
alopex on open grassy plains on red soil. This may well reinforce the
evidence that many populations of larks change abruptly with little or no
intergradation. But it is difficult to see any other grounds to support the
division into two species and the gap is bridged by M. a. macdonaldi
White from Yavello in south Ethiopia. I believe that we should continue
to maintain all as conspecific, and that it would be unsafe at hckaaain to
sub-divide the birds assigned to M. a. intercedens.

Mirafra rufocinnamomea (Salvadori).

I reviewed variation in this species in Bull. B.O.C. 1953, 73, pp. 88-91.
I then grouped a number of variable populations under M. r. fischeri
(Rchw.) owing to lack of adequate material in comparable fresh plumage.
In the populations included under that name soil staining is rare or
non-existent but abrasion in breeding birds produces a dull faded
appearance and soot-staining from burnt vegetation is not uncommon.

I have since been able to examine more material in fresh plummage and
consider that some improvement to the 1953 arrangement is desirable.
I still retain under M. r. fischeri the birds from the coastal areas of East
Africa from Mombasa to the Zambesi mouth and would include with
them birds from Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia (except extreme west)
and the Katanga. These populations are all dark both above and below,
the upperside being greyish or brownish with well developed blacker
feather centres. Intensity of pigment reaches its maximum south of the
Zambesi in southern Portuguese East Africa and adjacent Swaziland and
north east Transvaal. In addition in these areas the upperside is
characterised by a deep vinous pink shade in the majority of specimens
which is lacking in any of twenty-three birds from the area now assigned
to fischeri. Dr. J. P. Chapin recently drew my attention to this feature
when visiting Lusaka and I believe that this population should be
Tecognised by name.

_ Mirafra rufocinnamomea pintoi subsp. nov. |
_ Description: differs from M. r. fischeri (Rchw.) by its usually well

Vol. 76 58 1956

marked dark vinous pink tinge on the upperside ; underside usually
very strongly pigmented.

Type: adult female collected at Catuane, southern Portuguese East
Africa by Dr. A. Rosa Pinto on 3rd January, 1954. In my collection.

Distribution : Southern Portuguese East Africa to Swaziland and
north-east Transvaal.

In the more western part of their range the populations of this lark
formerly grouped under fischeri become paler than in East Africa ; the
black pigment in the upperside is greatly reduced, the abdomen is much
paler, the breast usually so and the breast spotting less heavy. Two of
these pale populations inhabit the area from the Kasai to French
Equatorial Africa and Southern Rhodesia respectively. The former of
these represents the north western periphery of fischeri-like populations
and there seems no reason to justify retaining it as identical with the much
darker East African birds. I therefore propose to describe it as :—
Mirafra rufocinnamomea schoutedeni subsp. nov.

Description: upperside much lighter than M. r. fischeri due to
reduction in black pigment, and consistently light warm brown or dark —
clay brown ; underside also lighter and with the breast spotting much ©
reduced compared with fischeri. |

Type : adult male collected at Luluabourg, Kasai, Belgian Congo on
26th May, 1939 by Fr. Callewaert. In my collection. -

Distribution: Lower Congo to the Kasai, Gaboon and French
Equatorial Africa.

The light birds from Southern Rhodesia are remarkably similar to the
above described race although separated from them by quite different
populations. In series on the upperside they show a tendency to vinous
pink which is absent from schoutedeni and is evidently typical of all birds
from south of the Zambesi. However, they are much too pale to unite
with pintoi. If they had a range contiguous with schoutedeni I should
not feel disposed to name them. As it is one must either recognise two
slightly different pale populations widely separated geographically under
a single name, or separate the Southern Rhodesian birds. On balance
I think the latter course is preferable as the slight difference in colour above.
is quite perceptible in series of good fresh specimens.

Mirafra rufocinnamomea smithersi subsp. nov.

Description: A pale form of M. rufocinnamomea very similar to
M. r. schoutedeni but with the upperside brighter and more vinous pink ;
much lighter above and below than the vinous pink M. r. pintoi.

Type: Adult male from Deka Farm, Matetsi, Southern Rhodesia
collected on July 10th, 1954. In the National Museum, Bulawayo.
Reg. No. N.M. 16374. |

Distribution: Southern Rhodesia and the northern Transvaal ;
probably fusing with adjacent races but no material from any locality —
where this occurs. )

It seems desirable to redefine more accurately the characters of M. r.
mababiensis (Roberts) as in 1953 I had only seen the example in the
Transvaal Museum. Since then I have seen a number of examples ;
viz. : 2 from Ngamiland and 2 from south-west Barotseland, all in the
National Museum, Bulawayo, and one in my own collection collected
by Mr. W. Hoesch at Mupapama, Okovango, South West Africa. Apart.

1956 wo): Vol. 76

from its very pale colour, this race is much more silvery grey above than
other populations. The light edges to the wing feathers are creamy
white and the rufous-on them much paler than in other races. This
further study of the fischeri-like populations of M. rufocinnamomea has
served to confirm that the various races and populations included under
this name are much more constant than has been supposed. I can see
little evidence of the regular co-existence of colour phases except perhaps
in the lowlands of East Africa. Elsewhere sporadic variants may occur
but populations are remarkably constant when reasonable samples are
available. Variation in the races may be summarised for convenience.

(a) Dark populations strongly pigmented: fischeri (mainly grey-
_ brown or dark cold brown) and pintoi (dark but with vinous red suffusion
above). :

(b) Light populations with reduction of pigmentation : schoutedeni
(light brown) ; mababiensis (greyish) smithersi (light vinous rusty).

Trends of variation which should be stressed are likewise the presence
of pinky vinous in the southern populations as well as the change from
dark eastern to light western populations. There is unfortunately very
little evidence from areas where intergradation between prevailing colour
types might be expected. South of Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia the
populations are variable and unstable and sometimes more like fischeri,
sometimes more like smithersi. M. r. Iwenarum White also appears in
some ways the product of intergradation between fischeri and mababiensis,
and further collecting in eastern Angola is needed to throw light on this.
At present it is retained as a light population, lighter and pinker above,
and lighter below than fischeri and less grey and more richly coloured
than mababiensis.

To sum up then, I believe that the various populations of clapper lark
discussed above should not be lumped under a single name as this masks
certain well marked trends of variation which are easily seen in series of
fresh plumaged birds. I am much indebted to Mr. R. H. Smithers for
the loan of material from Southern Rhodesia, Dr. A. Rosa Pinto for
material from Southern Portuguese East Africa and Mr. C. W. Benson
_ for collecting a good series in the northern province of Northern Rhodesia.
Ecology of M. rufocinnamomea.

M. rufocinnamomea is evidently more adaptable than any other species
of the genus in its ability to establish itself in what are not typical lark
habitats. In much of its Central African range it occurs in lightly
timbered savanna, cultivation and clearings in what is for the most part
well timbered country. In south east Nigeria it has colonised man-made
clearings in country with much forest, and it is not impossible that there
will be found a link between the buckleyi populations of south east
Nigeria and the schoutedeni populations which range north 280 miles

beyond Brazzaville to Oka. The nature of the habitats of rufocinnamomea
would not induce one to expect a close correlation between colour of the
bird and ground colour since much of the terrain frequented by rufocin-
‘namomea has a permanent grassy and scrubby cover. Over much of
Central Africa this seems to be born out by the presence of dark coloured
fischeri on soils of various colours. The light colour of /wenarum may
indicate a tendency to correlation with soil since it not only lives on
whitish grey sands but the latter are largely covered with fine wiry

Vol. 76 60 1956

Loudetia grass which forms a poor soil cover. The reduction in black
patterning of the fischeri complex of races from east to west has been
pointed out above, and it is worth noting also that buckleyi is still less
strongly patterned than schoutedeni on the upperside and the breast. It
remains to be discovered whether any of the other races of the species
with blackish or very red uppersides do correspond to prevailing soil
colours, and if so, whether in such cases the soils are less well covered than
in other areas.

Abnormal Seasonal Assumption of Spring Plumage
in the Redshank (Tringa totanus Linnaeus)
in association with possible Radioactive Contamination

by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON and Dr. JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Exhibited at the February meeting of the B.O.C.

In earlier notes 1°, we have recorded and exhibited an Icelandic Redshank,
Tringa totanus robusta Schidler, taken in Kent in November, showing the —
assumption of advanced summer plumage. Following a note in The —
Times by Mr. J. G. Williams *, in which it was suggested that this abnor- —
mal assumption of breeding plumage might be connected with contam- —
ination by radioative substances, we decided if possible to secure further —
specimens for investigation. Unfortunately we did not realise when the
November bird was collected that this matter of radioactive contam-
ination could be involved.

However, on 24th December, 1955 a female Redshank was shot by Richard —
Jones, in south-east Sussex and was examined by us on the spot. This speci-
men showed incipient assumption of summer plumage. On dissection the
ovary and oviduct appeared somewhat more fully developed than is |
usual in individuals of this species collected_at this time of the year.

Acting upon this slight but important evidence, we submitted the
roughly dried part skeleton, consisting of the thorax, pectoral girdle,
‘pelvis and femora to Dr. John Loutit of the Radiobiological Research -
Unit, the Atomic Energy Establishment, Harwell, for opinion as to radio-
active contamination. The dried bones were dissolved in nitric acid and
the presence of radioactive contamination was confirmed with a Veall
Geiger Counter. A graph was prepared assessing the degree, and was
exhibited.

Dr. Loutit’s report upon the investigation, which was carried out by
Dr. G. E. Harrison and Mr. W. Raymond was that ‘‘at least it proves
that the bird has been exposed to some radiation’’. He adds “‘‘I think the
data are hard facts. However, I personally would be wary of drawing
conclusions from them. As I said in my (earlier) letter, the radioactivity
found was extremely small; it could be that Continental or domestic birds
in their winter plumage have the same degree of contamination as the

plumage in November’’. Bull. B.O.C. Vol. 76, pp. 23-25.
2 The Times. ‘‘ Birds from Siberia in summer plumage’’. 10-12-1955.
3 The Times. ‘‘ Birds in Summer plumage’’. 14-12-1955. ;

1 Harrison, James M. and Jeffery G. ‘‘ Icelandic Redshianik os freshly moulted summer”
>

1956 7 6l Vol. 76

bird actually investigated; in a series of one there is no control... It does
- not rule out that the bird might have been exposed to vastly higher doses
of external radiation (for example flying through contaminated air).
This sounds like a stimulatory action of radiation. While I do not rule
out that such reactions do occur, it is more or less a radiobiological axiom
that radiation depresses cellular activity. It is true of course that there is
a rebound phenomenon of stimulation, as after most depressions, so that
there is an appearance of direct stimulation, unless the whole course of
events has been followed’’. It is desirable to comment upon this ‘rebound
phenomenon’ which would postulate that the irradiation would delay the
assumption of summer dress at the proper season and that it would then
materialise as a late phenomenon out of its proper Season.

It would seem desirable to see what histological evidence there may be
in connection with this abnormal assumption of summer plumage,
during the period of reproductive quiescence. In other words, whether the
histological evidence of follicular activity in the female or spermatogenesis
in the male can be definitely associated with radioactive contamination.
This problem would seem to be one in which direct experiment might prove
conclusive.

The ovary and oviduct of this specimen were submitted to Dr. A. J.
Marshall for investigation. His report runs ‘‘the slides have finally
emerged and they show quite clearly that the bird has become sexually
advanced. You will see that the oocyte diameter (in the largest cases) is
somewhat in excess of what would be expected from an ordinary wintering
bird. This probably connotes oestrogen liberation. The oviducal pro-
liferation is of course, a consequence of oestrogen liberation. You will
realise however, that without a series of control specimens, this infor-
mation should be used in a very guarded fashion’’. |

The findings on the Redshank are however, factual, though still, as
stressed by the above authorities, in a very speculative category. Eluci-
dation must now await the results of the investigation of further material
and of controlled experiments.

Perhaps some general comments should be made. Firstly, it has been
stated that harmful mutations may be expected to arise not earlier than
in the fourth generation following exposure of humans, and competent
authority has stated that as the result of the test explosions the increase in
the number of mutations will be less than one hundredth of 1%. More-
over, far more radiation is received by patients as part of medical treatment
than from nuclear explosions and a significant fraction reaches the
reproductive organs *. One thus brings perspective to bear upon this
subject, which might otherwise capture human imagination most unfavour- |
ably. .

We would gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to Dr. John Loutit
and his colleagues for the investigations carried out at Harwell, and to
Dr. A. J. Marshall for the sections and his report on the histology of the
ovary and oviduct; to Dr. Hugh R. C. Hay, Consulting Radiologist for
helpful criticism and to Richard Jones for providing the specimen here
discussed.

4 Modern Medicine, 1956, II, pp. 95-96. Symposium, H. J. Muller, Genetic Injury by
Radiation, Science, 1955, 121, pp. 837-840.

Vol. 76 62 1956 |

The names Treron griseicauda and Treron pulverulenta

by Dr. ERNST MAYR
Received 17th November, 1955

Sims and Warren, in their recent note on pigeons of the Treron pompadora
group (1955, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 75: 96-97) have overlooked the fact
that the International Zoological Congress at Copenhagen has reaffirmed
the important principle that an otherwise unavailable name does not
acquire availability by being cited subjectively in the synonymy of another
name (Copenhagen Decisions, 115). The fact that Bonaparte in 1854 cited
the manuscript name Jreron griseicauda Gray in the synonymy of Columba
aromatica Gmelin does not give it any validity. It is therefore unnecessary
to transfer the name griseicauda from the Celebes form, for which it has
been used universally in the last 30 years (and also from 1863-1893) to
the Java form universally known as pulverulenta. Wallace (1863) was the
first to describe these birds in a manner making the names griseicauda and
pulverulenta nomenclaturally available and the types and type-localities
fixed by him will have to stand. There is no legitimate reason to deviate
from current usage.

For notes on the classification of these pigeons see Bull. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist., vol. 83 (1944), p. 146-147.

Cossypha insulana Grote
conspecific with Cossypha bocagei Finsch & Hartlaub
by Mr. R. E. MOREAU AND Mr. C. W. BENSON

Received 15th December, 1955

The fact that Dr. A. Prigogine asked for an opinion on Cossyphas
collected on Mt. Kabobo (5°060’S., 29°01’E., west side of Lake Tanganyika)
led us to examine the birds attributed to the above species. Chapin
(‘Birds Belgian Congo’, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 75A, p.518) has
remarked that C. bocagei and C. insulana ‘“‘cannot possibly be races of one
species’”’ and he attaches C. kungwensis Moreau, described from the
mountains on the east side of Lake Tanganyika, to C. insulana. Chapin’s
reasons for this were that C. bocagei (as hitherto understood) has a much
longer tail in relation to its wings than C. insulana.

We find that in four specimens of C. bocagei from western Angola
measured by us the tail/wing ratio averages 81.9 and in 22 from Northern
Rhodesia and the Upper Katanga* 76.7. By contrast, in four C. i.
insulana (from Fernando Po) it averages 70.3 and on the dimensions given
by Serle for his C. 7. granti, on the neighbouring Kupe Mt., the tail/wing

ratio in that form averages 70.1. However, the gap between the foregoing —

extreme ratios is filled by the Kungwe birds, nine of which we find to
average tail/wing ratio 73.0 and those of Kabobo, which average 74.5;

while on the dimensions given by Prigogine (Rey. Zool. Bot. Afr. 46 (1952),

*Recently distinguished by Benson (on reduction in rufous tinge) as C.b. chapini—

Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 75, p. 104.

1956 63 Vol. 76

p.109) for his schoutedeni from Lutunguru, only about 150 miles north of
_ Kabobo, the tail/wing ratio in that form is 68. In fact then, the two
populations furthest to the northwest have the shortest tails, and the two
most southerly populations the longest, but the intermediate ratios in
central Africa do not fall on a geographical cline.

In plumage there is no clear distinction between the birds that have
been regarded as belonging to the two different species. The various
populations differ only in shade, except for the pattern round the eye.
Fernando Po and Kabobo birds—the most remote geographically—both
have a line of black feathers under the eye. Northern Rhodesian birds
have no black under the eye at all, the red-brown of the cheeks running
right on to the lower eye-lid; while both the Kungwe and the Kupe birds
have at most a line of dark feathers on the eye-lid itself. Again, the
various stages in the facial pattern do not lie on a geographical cline.

Thus on both characters, plumage and dimensions, C. insulana must
be regarded as conspecific with C. bocagei (the older name). Dr. Chapin
has expressed his agreement with this conclusion.

Variation in the Flycatcher Shrike Hemipus picatus (Sykes)
by Mrs. B. P. HALL

Received 23rd December, 1955

A study of all the skins of the Flycatcher-Shrike, Hemipus picatus, in
the British Museum shows more geographical variation than is indicated
by the recognition of only the three well-defined races, H.p.picatus,
H.p.capitalis (McClelland) and H.p.leggei Whistler. In H.p.capitalis of
north eastern India, Assam, northern Burma and Siam, Yunnan and
Tonkin the male has a black head but both the male and female have
brown backs: in H.p.leggei of Ceylon both sexes have black backs.
Throughout the rest of the range of the species, in the rest of India,
Burma, Siam and Indo-China, and in Malaya, Sumatra and Borneo, the
males have black backs and heads, and the females brown; all birds from
these countries are generally recognised as belonging to the nominate race
H.p.picatus, which was described from the Deccan.

However examination of about two hundred and fifty specimens from
within this range shows that, at the south eastern extreme, in Sumatra and
Borneo, and to a slightly lesser degree in the Malay Peninsula, the
brownish-grey wash on the breasts of the females is deeper in tone, con- |
trasting more strongly with the white of the abdomen, the brown of the
back is darker and the head more suffused with black. Variation in the
males is not so marked but those from the south-east have slightly darker
breasts than others. |

These characters in the females seem to me to be well enough marked
to warrant racial recognition. There is an old name available, Hemipus
intermedius Salvadori, (Ann.Mus.Civ.Gen. 14, 1879, p.209: Sumatra)
which has long been placed in the synonymy of H.p.picatus: I now propose
that it should be brought into use for the race of Sumatra, Borneo and
the Malay Peninsula. H.p.intermedius intergrades with H.p.picatus about

Vol. 76 64 1956

the Isthmus of Kra, but I find that the majority of females from extreme
southern Tenasserim and Peninsular Siam are closer to intermedius than
to picatus, while all from further north are typical picatus. It is perhaps
convenient therefore to consider Chumphon, at latitude 10°30'N. as the
northern limit of the race since this is the most northern latitude at which
variation from the typical picatus is found.

It is interesting to find that on the eastern side of the Gulf of Siam at the
same latitude in Cochin China, the same variation is found in some birds.
Mr. H. G. Deignan has told me that a female from Bienhoa, Cochin China
in Washington matches others from Peninsular Siam: this is also true of a
female from Tay-Ninh in the British Museum, though a very old, worn
female from Saigon and two males from An-binh are typically picatus.

I am grateful to Mr. Deignan for information on the specimens in
Washington and to Sir Norman Kinnear who looked at the skins in
London with me.

Notes on an aberrant Carrion-Crow Corvus corone corone
Linnaeus obtained in Hertfordshire

by Mr. BrYAN L. SAGE
Received 4th November, 1955

On the 13th July, 1955, near Northaw, Herts, I shot a juvenile female
Carrion Crow, Corvus c. corone which exhibits several very interesting
characters. Firstly it has particulary well marked growth bars on the
wing and tail feathers. These are of course quite a well known
phenomenon and need not be discussed further. The most interesting
thing about this specimen is the existence on the 3rd—10th primaries and
all the secondaries of each wing, of whitish patches. I propose to term
this condition Incipient Symmetrical Albinism, which we can assume is
caused by inhibited pigmentation. I described a case of symmetrical
albinism in the wings of this species some time ago (antea 74: 104). To
be precise these whitish areas are approximately in the centre of the
inner webs of the affected feathers, being smallest on the 3rd primary and
most extensive on the 7th-10th primaries. The table shows the approx-
imate length and maximum width of these patches in millimetres :—

Primary Length Maximum
width
3rd 4.5 3
4th 25 5
Sth 3d 10
6th 15 6
7th 36 11
8th 73 15
9th 76 16
10th 39 15

It must not be supposed that these patches are regular oblongs in shape,
they are widest in the centre and taper towards the ends. Those on the
secondaries are slightly more regularly oblong in shape. It is interesting

—

a

- an |

to speculate why these white areas are not largest in area on the longest ©
primaries (i.e. 3rd—6th), as one would expect if they were correlated with —

Ray A os

1956 65)" Vol. 76

the rate of growth of the feather ; and why they are not present at all on
- the Ist and 2nd primaries. The remainder of the plumage of this bird is
normal as regards colouration.

The last, but by no means the least interesting condition exhibited by
this bird, is an unusual abrasion (for want of a better term) of the tips of
the wing and tail feathers. This is, as I have ascertained with Dr. Jeffery
Harrison, evidently a condition analogous with that exhibited by the
Guillemot, Uria aalge (Pontoppidan) which he recently described (antea
75: 113-114). In the Crow this is most noticeable on the secondaries,
on some of these feathers the shafts, virtually without any barbs, extend
in some cases as much as 6 millimetres beyond the contour of the feathers.
The condition is not of course by any means so far advanced as in the
Guillemot, whose plumage is called upon to withstand far greater strain
than that of a Crow. If we assume that Dr. Harrison’s theory of an
inherent weakness of the barbules is correct, as I believe it is, then it seems
probable that it is a condition more widespread than these two recorded
instances suggest. The degree of aggravation of this inherited (?)
condition would depend on the circumstances of the individual bird’s
environment. Dr. Harrison has advanced very good reasons why it
should be particularly aggravated in the Guillemot. The fact that it is
fairly noticeable in this Crow may be due to the fact that it was shot in a
wood, and I know from personal experience that the Crows inhabiting
this wood rarely wander far from it. They nest mainly within its
boundaries, feeding in the rides and glades (where my specimen was shot).
The constant rubbing of twigs and undergrowth would account for the
marked wear exhibited.

Wood-Pigeon Columba palumbus palumbus Linnaeus
with odd-coloured eyes

by Mr. BYAN L. SAGE
Received 22nd November, 1955

On 12th November, 1955, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, I caught a Wood-
Pigeon that had one wing slightly damaged by gunshot, and a small
wound on the rump. These injuries had apparently been inflicted some
two or three days previously. The bird was quite plump and healthy.

The iris of one eye was the normal pale silvery tinted straw colour, but

that of the other eye was a deep orange-yellow, quite clear in appearance.
The colouration of the plumage and other soft parts was quite normal.
There did not appear to be any pathological condition of the aberrant eye
to account for the unusual colour. Mr. Derek Goodwin informs me that,
with the exception of pathological conditions, he has never seen a bird
with odd-coloured eyes or a Wood-Pigeon with orange eyes.
_ This condition is perhaps analogous with that which occurs not
~ uncommonly in homo sapiens, where it normally takes the form of a varia-
_ tion in tint of the same basic colour. It is expressed in the pigmentation
_ of the retina and does not appear to be hereditary or to impede the sight
in any way.

Vol. 76 66 1956

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1956 67 Vol. 76

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Vol. 76 ER. i 1956
y oe a5Ga,U s |

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BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB
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the number of free copies for contributors up to 50.

Once again, thanks to the efforts of Mr. R. A. H. Coombes, the Club
has benefited by a windfall of £60 in one order for the sale of old Bulletins.

A new Aldis 1,000w. projector for the showing of slides was purchased
during the year at a cost of £48 16s. Od., and, following previous practice,
this has been written off.

Provision has been made in the Accounts for the depreciation in the
market value of an investment. |

GENERAL

The Club held nine meetings during the year. By a resolution passed
at the Annual General Meeting, the June meeting was replaced by one in
September. As usual, the March meeting was held jointly with the British
Ornithologists’ Union. The total attendances were 423, one less than
in 1954,

MEMBERSHIP

The Committee very much regret to record the death during 1955 of
of Mr. A. Ezra. Three new members were elected, and five members
resigned, reducing the membership from 199 to 196. Since the end of the
year nine new members have joined the Club, and there have been three
resignations.

THE BULLETIN

The Editor and printers are to be congratulated on the promptness
with which the Bulletin has been published during the past twelve months.

The Rules were revised in accordance with resolutions passed at the
last Annual General Meeting, and were reprinted during the year.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are most grateful to Mr. Gaffney for his handling of the projector ~
and lantern, often in difficult circumstances, and to Messrs. W. B. Keen
and Company for acting as Auditors, |
E. M. NICHOLSON
Vice-Chairman,
24th February, 1956.

Notices

BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN’’

Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each.
Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological
Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available.

Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no
longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes,
Esq., aS above.

DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1956

17th April, 15th May, 18th September, 16th October, 20th November,
18th December.

SEPARATES

Contributors who desire free copies of the Bulletin containing their
notes should state so on their MS., otherwise these will not be ordered.
These will be supplied up to a maximum of fifty.

PUBLICATION OF THE **BULLETIN’”’

- ~.. Members who make a contribution at a Meeting should hand the

MS. to the Editor at that Meeting. As the proofs will be corrected by
the Editor, it is essential that the MS. should be correct and either typed
Or written very clearly with scientific and place names in block letters.
The first mention of a scientific name should be spelt out in full, i.e.,
genus, specific name, racial name (if any), and author. Any further
mention of the same name need only have the initial letter of the genus
and no further mention of the author.

If no MS. is handed to the Editor at the Meeting, a note will be inserted :

mentioning the contribution.

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

The Committee have decided that in future the Club will pay for a
reasonable number of black and white blocks at the discretion of the
Editor. If the contributor wishes to have the blocks to keep for his own
use afterwards, the Club will not charge for them, as has been done in
the past.

Communications are not restricted to members of the British ©

Ornithologists’ Club, and contributions up to 1,500 words on taxonomy

and related subjects will be considered from all who care to send them to

The Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, ‘‘Merriewood’’, St. Botolph’s Road,
Sevenoaks, Kent.

Communications relating to other matters should be addressed to the -

Hon. Secretary, N. J. P. Wadley, Esq., 14 Elm Place, London, S.W.7.
SUBSCRIPTION

Twenty-one Shillings Annually. Two Shillings and Sixpence —

per copy.

AAA IEAM MO kl We
Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by ~

The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent.

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BULLETIN

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Edited by
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Volume 76 May
No. 5 1956

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BULLETIN
OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number 5
Published: Ist May, 1956

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Chairman; COLONEL R. MEINERTZHAGEN

The Sixty-fourth Annual General Meeting of the Club was held at
5.45 p.m. on Tuesday, 17th April, 1956, at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe
Place, London, S.W.7.

The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 19th April,
1955, were passed. The Report and Accounts for the year to 31st December
1955, were passed unanimously. Mr. C. N. Walter explained that with the
proposed improvement in the BULLETIN for the year 1956, the Accounts
will show a deficit at the end of the year, owing to the high cost of printing.
It is proposed to use the BULLETIN Fund, to which many members volun-
tarily subscribe, to cover this deficit.

The Chairman moved a vote of thanks to the Hon. Secretary, Hon.
Treasurer, the Editor and the Auditors for their work during the year.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Chairman: Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed.
Vice-Chairman: Captain C. R. S. Pitman.
Hon. Treasurer: Mr. C. N. Walter (re-elected).
Hon. Secretary: Mr. N. J. P. Wadley (re-elected).
Committee: Miss T. Clay.

COMMITTEE, 1956
Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed, Chairman (1956); ‘Captain (C..R./S,
Pitman, Vice-Chairman (1956), Mr. C. N. Walter, Honorary Treasurer
(1950), Mr. N. J. P. Wadley, Honorary Secretary (L950), Drs Jos.
Harrison, Editor (1952), Major-General C. B. Wainwright (1953), Dr. G.
Beven (1954), Mrs. B. P. Hall (1955), Miss T. Clay (1956). |
The Annual General Meeting was followed by the monthly dinner.

Chairman: COLONEL R. MEINERTZHAGEN
Members present, 31; Guests 12; Total, 43.

The Chairman weicomed Mr. Jack Vincent back to the Club. Mr.
Vincent was home on a duty visit from Africa.

Major-General C. B. Wainwright then proposed a vote of thanks to the
retiring Chairman, on behalf of all members of the Club. In reply,
Colonel Meinertzhagen thanked everyone for their support during his
term of office.

Vol. 76 70 1956 —

Desert Falcons

Mr. J. Mavrogordato, ably supported by a trained Saker and Lanner
brought home from the Sudan, gave members a most interesting talk in
his usual entertaining style. There is no such species as a true desert falcon,
but he proposed to talk about the two species present. The Saker, he
considered to be related to the Gyr, but the Lanner he thought was closer
to the Peregrine. For instance, the Saker does not hunt by stooping, but
by flying low and extremely fast, which is very different from the normal
method of the Peregrine, but similar to the Gyr. He had seen a Saker
‘“stalking’’ a pair of Sand Grouse at speed in the Sudan this winter, the
birds rising and escaping just in time.

Sakers are considerably more intelligent than Peregrines and to a lesser
extent, so are Lanners. A Lanneret released in 1950 in the Sudan, after
being used to falconry, was still about this year and recognized Mr.
Mavrogordato, but would let no other human anywhere near.

Both species are very difficult to catch and it had taken the speaker
his eleven years in the Sudan to learn how to do it. The method depends —
upon their propensity to rob weaker species, as for instance, a Brown- —
necked Raven, a Kestrel or ideally a Pallid Harrier. These species are
made to carry a small lure armed with numerous nooses in which the
falcon becomes caught.

Using this method, he discovered that Egyptian Vultures were also keen
robbers of smaller species, but the worst of all were the eagles. These
were a considerable problem as they were always to be found in the same
area as the falcons and will go to all lengths to get the lure, even if it only
contains a dead sparrow.

A New Species of Lark from Kenya

~ by Mr. J. D. MACDONALD
Received 3rd February, 1956

Mr. J. G. Williams of the Coryndon Museum, Nairobi, collected in
June 1955 on the south-west slopes of Marsabit four specimens of lark —
which seem to represent an undescribed species. They belong to the genus ©
Mirafra. They are not readily identified as a colour phase or geographical
variant of any known species of Mirafra. They are not likely to be, for
instance, a colour phase of the very variable M. rufocinnamomea for their |
dimensions and bill shape are not identical with specimens of that species
taken in the same locality; also Williams noted that ‘‘rufocinnamomea is
a great skulker and one can rarely see the bird after it has alighted, whereas
there was no difficulty in locating this other lark on the ground; often it —
would run after alighting and dodge behind bushes but sooner or later it
would appear and walk across some open patch.’’ He suggested that the
specimens might represent true rufocinnamomea (which, then, would not —
be conspecific with fischeri) a likely possibility in these M. irafra larks which
can be very similar in the hand but quite different in the field. But the
type of M. rufocinnamomea was examined by Captain C. H. B. Grant in
1938 who noted (in MS) that it is a close match with the type of M. torrida
Shelley in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.), which is considered to be

1956 ; | 71 Vol. 76

conspecific with rufocinnamomea; the markings and general appearance
of the upperparts are similar although the colour is rather less bright
rufous, and the underparts are an exact match.

Williams also observed that ‘‘its field appearance was rather like that
of M. africanoides, but unlike that species I did not see it alight in bushes,
but always on the ground, often near a bush, around which it would run
after alighting.’’ Dr. H. Friedmann, who examined a specimen, says that
it reminds him of an africancides. But Williams found birds clearly
identifiable as africanoides in the same locality and the specimens are not
dimensionally the same, as one would expect them to be if they repre-
sented a colour phase of that species.

Another possibility considered was that they might be geographical
variants of M. albicauda, but although their dimensions are fairly close to
that species they are not a neat morphological fit with specimens on the
table. Williams states that in his experience ‘‘albicauda always occurs in
thick or high grass, flushes usually from near one’s feet and has a charac-
teristic flight when it goes away,’’ whereas these new birds were ‘‘in areas
where there is a certain amount of grass and small bushes, but also open
patches of sandy soil: in other words in an overgrazed area.’’

There remained the possibility that the specimens might match either

Friedmann’s Mirafra candida, from the northern Guaso Niyro River,
Kenya Colony, or M. pulpa from the Sagon River, southern Abyssinia,
both of which were considered by Praed and Grant to be synonymous
with M. cantillans. Dr. Friedmann kindly compared a specimen with the
types of these forms and thought that it might be related to M. pulpa.
However, it is, apparently, not a good match; he gives differences as great
as those separating many other species in this genus and as the validity of
pulpa itself has been questioned it seems that little can be gained by putting
the two together in a species by themselves.

In general appearance, as museum specimens, it seems to me that they
are most like M. cordofanica of Kordofan and Darfur in the Sudan.
Williams is not acquainted in the field with that rather little known species
and comparisons with meagre records of habits and ecology are not helpful.
It is possible that these new Marsabit birds may be phylogenetically
nearest cordofanica but because of the wide geographical gap and the
distinct morphological differences between them — and also the lack of a
modern revision of the genus Mirafra — it seems better at this stage to focus
attention on the birds by giving them specific status. The species is named
after Mr. Williams who has made such valuable contributions to East
African ornithology.

Mirafra williamsi new species

Description: General colour of the upperparts more or less uniform
brown, a colour sometimes described as Verona-brown or snuff-brown;
the centres of most feathers slightly darker, this dark area being diffuse
not sharply contrasting. The inner secondaries and central tail feathers
sepia or dark cinnammon-brown; at the bases of the broad pale margins
there are blackish lines, but much of these marginal features are abraded
in old plumage. The bases and centres of the outer webs of most of the
primaries are plain cinnamon-rufous as in the majority of Mirafra species.
Throat nearly white; breast dark vinaceous-buff with darker triangular

Vol. 76 72 1956

markings; belly pinkish-buff; in the tail feathers the outer pair are pinkish-
buff on outer web, rachis and most of the distal half of the inner web;
second pair are pinkish-buff on distal half of outer web and tip of inner
web; the remaining rectrices, other than the central pair, are dark sepia.

The bill is slightly deeper in relation to length than in other Mirafra of
similar dimensions; although the measured difference of bill depth is
only 1-2 mm. the stouter appearance is quite clear to the eye in compared
specimens. Details of dimensions are: Wing, ¢ 84, 9 83; first primary,
exposed length about 20 mm.; Tail, 3 54, 56, 2 53; Bill length (from skull),
23 15; depth, 7-8; tarsus, J2 22-24; hind claw, 39 8-10.

Colour of non-feathered parts, g9: bill, above greyish horn, below
pinkish-white; legs, pinkish-white; iris, brown.

Type: Adult male nearing completion of post-breeding moult: from
Marsabit, Kenya Colony; lat. 2° 20’ N; long. 37° 55’ E; alt. 3,000ft. :
collected by J. G. Williams on 20th June, 1955: B.M. reg. no. 1956: 6: 1.

Remarks: Three other specimens were taken in the same locality and
on the same date. A second male was just commencing moult and a third
was in full moult; a female was fairly well advanced in moult. Stomach
contents seeds. The male in full moult is in the Coryndon Museum, and
the other two specimens are in the British Museum along with the type.

I am grateful to Captain C. H. B. Grant and Mrs. B. P. Hall for examin-
ing the specimens with me; and to Dr. H. Friedmann and Mr. C. M. N.
White for various comments.

Spine-Tailed Swifts of the Old World

by Davip LACK
Received 8th February, 1956

A revision of the genera of swifts (Lack 1956a) and of the species of Apus
(Lack 1956b) resulted in so many changes from Peters (1940), that I
thought a survey of the Old World species of Chaetura (in the wide sense)
desirable. Happily no changes in specific nomenclature seem needed, but
I felt this fact should be placed on record. I worked with the extensive
series in the British Museum (Natural History) together with specimens
of C. ussheri marwitzi and C. melanopygia loaned by the museums of
Berlin, Stockholm and Chicago, to whom I am most grateful. For reasons
given elsewhere (Lack 1956a) I treat all the Old World spine-tails in one
genus; 8 genera have at times been used for the 13 or 14 species involved.

As pointed out by Amadon (1953), the West African C. sabini is close

to thomensis of San Thomé, also to sylvatica* of India and leucopygialis —

of Malaya, while grandidieri of Madagascar is only a little further

removed. These five forest forms are allopatric, and extremely ©
similar in size and proportions, while the first four are very similar and the —
last fairly similar in colour, the most prominent difference being in the ©

length of the (usually white) upper tail coverts. The differences between
them might be regarded as subspecific, but they do not overlap, so I

suggest that they should provisionally be retained as five monotypic and ~

*D. Amadon writes that he miscalled this species mystacalis.

eat

1956 73 Vol. 76

allopatric species, a curious situation; (thomensis might have been treated
as a race of C. sabini but for the Asiatic forms).
C. ussheri is widespread in central Africa, with five well-marked races
which differ in the shade of black on the body and the extent of the white
rump, which tend to be darker and smaller respectively where the rainfall
is higher. C. melanopygia from the east of the Belgian Congo and French
Cameroon (Chapin 1939, Good 1952) is extremely similar in proportions
and in having a scaly throat, but is decidedly larger, with a dark instead
of white rump and abdomen, and is presumably sympatric, so is a valid
species.
C. boehmi from equatorial Africa and C. cassini from further south seem
allopatric, are extremely similar in proportions and colour, but differ
markedly in size, so should be treated as monotypic species.
C. novaeguineae of New Guinea resembles C. boehmi in size, proportions
and underparts, but is a glossy greenish blue above, suggesting affinity
with C. picina, a monotypic species from the Philippines, which is much
larger, and a glossy blue all over save for a striking white throat, in which
it resembles the next species.
The remaining three forms (Hirund-apus section) are much larger than
any others. C. caudacuta is widespread in eastern Asia extending south to
the Himalayas, south of which it is replaced by the dark-throated cochin-
chinensis, which some workers have treated as a subspecies, but others like
Biswas (1951) as a full species. Since swifts travel far, even when breeding,
I feel that the status of cochinchinensis should be left open until precise
breeding data are available from the alleged zone of overlap in Assam.
Apparently C. gigantea also breeds in this area, but it seems highly unlikely
that three such similar forms should breed in the same locality.
Omitting the Hirund-apus section, Chaetura is represented in the Old
World by 11 species, of which 9 are monotypic, namely sabini, thomensis,
sylvatica, leucopygialis, grandidieri, melanopygia, boehmi, cassini and
picina; novaeguineae has 3 and ussheri 5 races. In marked contrast, Apus
according to my revision comprises 10 Old World species, of which none
are certainly monotypic, though 4A. horus might be, and they average
4.6 races per species as compared with 1.6 in the 11 species of Chaetura.
The Old World spine-tails are chiefly forest forms with restricted and
sometimes discontinuous distributions, a position to which they were
possibly driven through competition with Apus, which chiefly inhabits
open country. The contrast disappears in the Hirund-apus section, which,
following Peters (1940) and Biswas (1951), has 3 species with 3, 2 and 5
races respectively.
References : |
Amadon, D. 1953. ‘‘Avian systematics and evolution in the Gulf of Guinea.’’
Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 100: 418-9.

Biswas, B. 1951. ‘‘On some larger spine-tailed swifts, with the description of a
new subspecies from Nepal. Ardea 39 :318—321.

Chapin, J. P. 1939. ‘‘The Birds of the Belgian Congo,’’ 2. Bull. Amer. Mus.
Nat. Hist. 75 :441-8.

Good, A. I. 1952. ‘‘The Birds of French Cameroon.’’ Mem. Inst. Franc. D’ Afr.
Noire Sci. Nat. 2: 1: 163.

ae Rigen “*A review of the genera and nesting habits of swifts.’’ Auk.

Lack, D. 1956b. The species of Apus. Ibis 98: 34-62.

Peters, J. L. 1940. Check-list of Birds of the World, 4: 232-42.

Vol. 76 74 1956

Note on the Plumages of the Firethroat Luscinia pectardens
(David)
by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN
Received 28th January, 1956

The Firethroat Luscinia pectardens (David) is a rarity in collections.
There are twenty specimens in the British Museum (Natural History).
Of these only one is a female, and the only other female I have been able
to trace is in the American Museum of Natural History. Both females were
taken in north-western Yunnan. They agree with each other in being a
general olive-brown above, with a russet tinge on the upper tail coverts and
buffish below. A feature of interest is that both females have unmarked
brown tails, whereas males of all ages have the tail black with white
markings. Such a sexual difference in tail pattern is rare in the Turdidae,
but the Plumbeous Water Redstart, Rhyacornis fuliginosa (Vigors), is a
parallel example. Provided the two specimens referred to are typical
females of L. pectardens then the colour-pattern of the rectrices suffices to
distinguish the sexes in all plumages.

Of the other nineteen specimens in the National Collection, twelve —
are sexed as males, four unsexed specimens are in male plumage, and two
juveniles and one unsexed immature have the black and white tail pattern
mentioned above. This series reveals some facts about plumage changes —
in the males of this species that do not appear to have been described
previously. The plumage sequences of the male are as follows:

The two juveniles, which are presumed to be males on the basis of tail —
colour-pattern, have the upper-parts dull sepia brown with obscure sooty
fringes to most of the feathers and pale buffy centres to many on the neck,
rump and scapulars. Below they are pale buff with sooty-brown tips to the
feathers. The wing quills are paler and browner than those of adults.

Some specimens that are almost certainly immature males in their first
autumn plumage retain the juvenile wing quills. On the crown, hindneck
and mantle they are olive-brown, the back and wing coverts are of the same
bluish-grey as in the adult but somewhat intermixed with olive-brown.
One specimen, Reg. No. 1948: 27: 185, has the upper parts almost entirely
olive-brown.

The male in the breeding season has the throat and breast bright orange
or reddish-orange, bordered on either side with a black band that runs
from the gape to the sides of the breast and includes the ear-coverts and
facial region. The upper parts are dark bluish-grey, with a small white or
greyish-white patch on each side of the neck. The wing quills are dark
greyish-sepia with inconspicuous brown fringes to most of the primaries

and greyish fringes to those of the inner primaries and secondaries. The
tail is black and white and the underparts buffish. First year males can be
identified by their retaining the more brownish juvenile wing quills, but. h
they do not otherwise differ from adults. P

In the post-breeding moult, which is total, the black and reddish-orange ~
feathers of the face, throat and breast are replaced by buffish or whitish —
ones and those of the white neck patch by grey feathers with white centres. —
This change is clearly shown in two moulting males, taken in south-east
Tibet on the 26th and 27th of July — Reg. Nos. 1938: 12: 13: 14 and se
and one taken in July in north-western Yunnan — Reg. No. 1921: 7:15: 117.

Woks ‘

1956 75 Vol. 76

An adult male in fresh autumn plumage is like the adult breeding male
above but with the face and under parts buffish and the throat and belly
nearly white. The grey and brownish fringes to the wing are, naturally,
much more conspicuous than in the breeding season, by which time they
have been largely lost by wear. This distinct non-breeding plumage of the
adult male is very like the description given by Koelz (1954) for his new
species Luscinia daulias.

The transition from non-breeding to breeding plumage is, unfortunately,
not illustrated by any specimens. It probably occurs between February and
early April, as in some related species. In adults it may, perhaps, only
involve the feathers of the face, throat and breast, as in the Bluethroat
Luscinia svecica (Linnaeus). In young males, however, it must also involve
at least the feathers of the head, hind-neck and mantle. In Luscinia cyane
(Pallas) the immature males — and perhaps also the adults — have a spring
moult which is complete except for the rectrices, wing-quills and primary
coverts.

Thanks are due to Dr. C. Vaurie of the Americna Museum of Natural
History, for information on specimens and the loan of their only female
L. pectardens.

Reference.
Koelz, W. N. (1954). Contributions from the Institute for regional exploration.
Grete. 12.

Buack righ:
Biwi st- GREY

ORANGE - RED
) Buretsu ok Wale

Top: Adult ¢ in breeding plumage. Bottom: Adult 5
in non-breeding plumage

Vol. 76 76 | 1956

Plumage Changes in Wild Tubercular Wood Pigeon

By Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON AND DR. JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 10th December, 1955

Introduction. In his original work on tuberculosis in the Wood Pigeon,
Columba palumbus palumbus Linnaeus, Dr. A. McDiarmid? has noted that
infected birds “‘showed some alteration of plumage, the feathers, especially
of the mantle, being darker than normal with a matt finish.” The cause
of this, he thought may be associated directly with the disease or indirectly
as a result of lack of preening.

While Dr. McDiarmid was working primarily as a pathologist, his
findings will be of much interest to ornithologists in general, for they have
significance in relation to plumage colour changes without moult and to
the taxonomy of the Wood Pigeon. In the past six months we have
preserved and made post-mortems on four Wood Pigeon suffering from
tuberculosis, three with plumage changes, and as a result we feel these
should be described in continuation of Dr. McDiarmid’s work and from
their more general ornithological aspect.

Pathological Findings

Data Organs infected Culture Type Plumage
panier a
nama
218) e/ 2/2
cdeltotten etl 30) ee ees
o oO A es= or) ee
SY geht Cen ce bes bob
75) tg a r= aR a =
Lv Gad: 13.7755 BE | RRR LORE | eR) EE) | Rouphayemed!| Dare
Seal, Kent | avian
med —__——- —_—— ee Rare [a
2. Gad, 219550 ee eee he | eee | + | Smooth typical} Dark
Seal, Kent | avian
3. dad. 4.9.55 ee | | __ | ** | __ | __ | —_ | + | Smooth typical} Normal
Seal, Kent avian
4. gad. 20.11.55 CaS Ae * | —} ** | ** | 4+ (Culture became} Dark
Sevenoaks, Kent | contaminated
eae wa a aN NE ee ee | ee
* — mild infection ** — moderate infection *** — severe infection

Plumage changes. Concomitant with these pathological changes there
are certain very characteristic effects to be observed in the plumage.
These are not merely a general darkening but are also fundamental
structural alterations.

As already pointed out by McDiarmid (Joc. cit.) the feathering iS
darker than in normal birds and also lacks the natural bloom. In speci-
mens we have examined the plumage shows a roughening comparable to
that of excessive wear, all the feather edges being ragged and uneven, a
change which accounts for the lack of bloom. That the birds are suf-
fering from a grave constitutional disease is evidenced by the atrophic
state of such fresh feathers as may have reached definitive growth during

: McDiarmid, A. “The Occurence of Tuberculosis in the wild Wood Pigeon.’ The
Journal Comp. Path. and Therapeutics, 1948, pp. 128-133.

1956 Th | Vol. 76

the course of the disease. These, as can be seen from the plates, show
abnormal feather structure, the barbs lacking the barbules and interlocking
hooklets. They often show atrophic growth lines and the shafts are seen
to share in the excessive melanin deposition. The rachis is sometimes
transversely ridged, while the proximal feathering is almost devoid of the
downy filoplumes so characteristic of normal feathers. In the wings, the
exposed tips of the primaries show a greater degree of wear than that
portion of the feather which is protected by being covered by the next in
series. This phenomenon is of course observable in normal birds, but
only when the plumage is abraided, preceding or during the moult.

In the cases now under consideration, this is not so and the new genera-

tion of feathers are seen to be structurally imperfect, showing defective
barb and barbule formation.

Woop PIGEON:

Left a tubercular and right a normal bird.

Feathers: Upper tail coverts from left a normal, and centre, a tubercular
Wood Pigeon. Right, a secondary from a tubercular bird. Both diseased
feathers show structural defects.

Vol. 76 78 1956

In connection with this research the question of the recently described
dark race, Columba palumbus kleinschmidti arises. Its author, Mr. P. A.
Clancey” describes it as “‘the distinct indigenous populations resident in
Scotland, Ireland and most of England and Wales.” Certainly in so far as
the breeding birds of south-eastern England are concerned, we cannot
confirm that they are dark, in fact such as we have seen are typically
pale individuals.

We have been accustomed to shooting examples in the early spring which
were dark, but since it was prior to the discovery by McDiarmid of tuber-
culosis associated with darkening of the plumage, it is possible that we
may have missed seeing the essential pathological lesions.

It would be well if a series of breeding Wood Pigeon from Scotland,
from the terra typica of C.p.kleinschmidti, were re-examined and that
particular attention should be given to this aspect of the problem in order
to determine the validity of the race.

Discussion. In describing these plumage changes, which have been
found to be present in three cases ranging from July to November, we feel
that they must support the theory of colour change in plumage without
moult, for it was only in Case 4 that any moult was observed and this was
of an abnormal nature.

The mechanism required to bring this about might possibly be asso-
ciated with the adrenals, for it will be seen from the chart of the patho-
logical findings that the three dark birds all showed disease of these glands,
whereas the only normally plumaged bird possessed healthy adrenals.
Adrenalin and melanin both have the same precursor (Desoxycorti-
costerone Acetate) and if the production of adrenalin was interrupted, the
result might well be an increased production of melanin. The similarity
to Addison’s disease of the human, in which the adrenals fail, often due to
‘tuberculosis, inevitably springs to mind. Distinctive blood changes
occur, the serum sodium, potassium and chloride altering. We hope to
carry out some investigation into this in Wood Pigeons, but the difficulties
of collecting the blood without causing haemolysis are very great and if
this does occur, the serum potassium is increased by the potassium liberated
from the red cell and a false reading is obtained.

On the other hand, McDiarmid has found plumage changes in the
presence of macroscopically normal adrenals and this raises the possibility
of adrenal failure as the result of toxic changes, due to the disease else-
where. Further research into the pathology of these plumage changes is
obviously indicated.

Acknowledgments. We have much pleasure in acknowledging the help
we have received from Dr. K. Randall and the pathological staff of the
Orpington and Sevenoaks Hospitals and from Dr. A. McDiarmid of the
Agricultural Research Council Field Station, Compton. Mr. Alan Brooks
very kindly allowed us to shoot over his farm at Seal, where three of the
cases were collected and we would thank Dr. David Harrison for shooting
Case 2. 3

2 Clancey, P. A. “‘A New Race of Columba palumbus Linne from the Western Palearctic.”
Syllegomena Biologica, 1950, pp. 89-92.

eee ey en

1956 : 79 Vol. 76
Exhibition of Eggs of Charadrius forbesi (Shelley)

By DR. WILLIAM SERLE
Exhibited at the December meeting of the B.O.C.

C. forbesi and Charadrius tricollaris (Vieillot) are two Aethiopian Plovers
so similar that many authorities including Sclater (Syst. Av. Aeth., 1924,
pt. 1, p. 120) and Peters (Check-List, 1934, 2, p. 253) have regarded them
as conspecific.

The eggs of C. tricollaris are well-known from both South and East
Africa. Their markings are peculiar and very constant in character.
The whole surface is covered with blackish scrawls and hair lines.

On the left the ezg of Charadrius tricollaris (Vieillot);
On the right the ezg of C. forbesi (Shelley).

The clutch of three eggs of C. forbesi exhibited was taken by me at
Eoueu. 6 25° N., 7° 30’ E:, Nigeria, on 29th May, 1954. The male
was brooding and was collected to confirm identification. The eggs are
ovate with the narrow end somewhat compressed. The ground colour
is cream tinged with pink. The markings take the form ofevenly distributed
rather blurred blotches and spots of sepia and olive-brown, and the ashy
secondary suffusions and blotches are prominent and thickly distributed.
There are no hair lines or other linear markings. They measure 31.2 x
es x 23, 30.8 x 22.6.mm.

The eggs are altogether different in ground colour and markings from
those of C. tricollaris. On the evidence of the eggs alone these two forms
cannot be considered conspecific.

There is one previous record of the breeding of C. tricollaris, also from
Nigeria—by Brown (Ibis, 1948, pp. 529-531). From the description the »

eggs seen by Brown closely resembled those obtained at Enugu.

Geographical Variation in the Southern African Populations
of Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein)
by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY
Received 28th November, 1955
The African Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein) is a glossy black
passerine with a wide continental range, five geographical races being
recognised in the most recent authoritative revision, that of Vaurie,

Vol. 76 80 1956

‘‘Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History,’’ vol. 93, art. 4,
1949, pp. 222-231. In his classification this author accepts the modern
view that the velvet-backed forms, D. modestus Hartlaub, 1849: Principe,
and D. coracinus Verreaux and Verreaux, 1851: Gaboon, are conspecific
with the widely distributed D. adsimilis and its races, pointing out that
the glossy- and velvet-backed races are linked by an intermediate group
of populations in the Upper Guinea forests —the race D. a. atactus
Oberholser, 1899: Fantee, Gold Coast. Vaurie’s findings are followed

Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein)

Left pair: D. a. fugax. Adult $4 from Swaziland and Southern Por-
tuguese East Africa. Right pair. D. a. adsimilis. Adult $3 from
coastal Natal

Note the much smaller size and deeper black colouration of D. a. fugax
when compared with the nominate race
Specimens collected and preserved by P. A. Clancey.

(Photograph: A. L. Bevis)

ee a. eae ee

Ms

:

1956 81 Vol) 76

_by Chapin, ‘‘Birds of the Belgian Congo’’, part iv, 1954, pp. 6-13, but

not by Mackworth-Praed and Grant in their even more recent **Birds of
Eastern and North Eastern Africa’’, vol. ti, 1955, pp. 563-565.

The belief now generally held by workers is that only one race worthy
of nomenclatural recognition, f.e., D. a. adsimilis (Bechstein), occupies that
enormous portion of the Ethiopian region which extends from the Belgian
Congo (areas to the south of the rain forest), Kenya Colony and Uganda
to the southern extremities of the continent. This view has not always
been held, and it is a well-documented fact that the birds inhabiting the
eastern low country (Tanganyika Territory, Kenya Colony, etc). tend to
be smaller in all dimensions than those of the west (Angola) and the south
(Cape Province, Natal, etc.). At the present time it is also considered that
this size variation is clinal, with no marked step or break, and that it
cannot be described adequately by the use of the trinomen. The small-
sized, eastern populations have at different times been assigned by workers
to D. a. divaricatus (Lichtenstein), 1823: Senegambia, or D. a. fugax
Peters, 1868: Tete and Inhambane, Portugese East Aftica. D. a. divaricatus
is recognised by Vaurie as a valid race, which ranges from Senegal to the
Somalilands in areas to the north of rain forest. It differs from the southern
D. a. adsimilis as defined by Vaurie in having a markedly shallower tail-
fork. D. a. fugax is synonymized with the nominate form by this same
worker, but I hope to show that it is a recognisable race.

Through the kindly co-operation of the Directors of the following
museums I have been able to bring together well over 200 skins of D.
adsimilis for a detailed study of the size variations in the southern popula-
tions: Transvaal Museum, Pretoria; Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg;
National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo; and the Museu Dr’
Alvaro de Castro, Loureng¢o Marques. My findings, which are given
below, have been based solely on fully adult birds, especially adult males.

Corvus adsimilis Bechstein was described in 1794 on the basis of
material from the Cape Province of South Africa, and the precise type-
locality is now generally recognised as being the Duywenshoek River, in
the south of the province (vide Vincent, ‘‘Check List of the Birds of South
Africa’’, 1952, p. 90; Mackworth-Praed and Grant, op. cit.). The wing-
measurements of twelve adult birds from the southern and eastern districts
of the Cape are: gd 135.5 — 140, 99 130— 138 mm., and precisely similar
measurements are available from considerably larger series from Pondo-
land, Natal, Zululand, and parts of the Transvaal (Pretoria). The material
from Bechuanaland and South West Africa available at the present time
is not exhaustive, but fully adult birds from these territories which I have
measured are not smaller than topotypes, and large-sized birds are also —
recorded for Angola (wings of 33 138 — 143 mm.) and the Katanga and
Northern Rhodesia (wings of 3¢ 135 — 141 mm.) by Vaurie, op. cit., p. 223.
These collective measurements suggest that for all practical taxonomic
purposes the populations of the southern Congo, north-western Northern
Rhodesia, Angola, South West Africa and Bechuanaland to the Cape are

-mensurally the same.

Recent work in the coastal lowlands of south-eastern Africa has shown
that the large nominate race occurs in Natal and most of Zululand, but
is replaced in the areas immediately to the north, /.e., in north-eastern
Zululand (Tongaland), Swaziland and southern Portuguese East Africa

Vol. 76 82 1956

by a palpably smaller bird with wings in g¢ 125 — 132, 99 122 — 127.5
mm. The two races occur quite close together, because specimens in the
Durban Museum collection from Melmoth, in Zululand, are D. a.
adsimilis, while a series from near Gollel, in southern Swaziland (95 miles
to the N.E.), are referable to the small race.

When viewed in series the structural differences separating the two
forms are most marked (see Figures), affecting all the more important
physical proportions, but in addition to these there are minutiae of
plumage colouration which are considered to be of equal subspecific
import. The small-sized birds are deeper, less bluish, black throughout,
and the pale inner webs to the major flight feathers are appreciably
whiter than in topotypes of the nominate race. The general pallor of the
major flight feathers is most marked in life in these small-sized birds of
the south-east African lowlands, and in the dry, colourless thorn country
on a hot day birds hawking for insects seem almost to have white-tipped
wings.

200 300

GE Se
SESSS

2 CAPE TOWN ——— >

Map depicting the ranges and zones of intergradation of the African Drongo
races, D. a. adsimilis and D. a. fugax

Horizontals = D. a. adsimilis. Verticals = D. a. Jusax:
Cross-hatching = Zones of intergradation

Figures contained in circles represent the mean wing-length of local adult
J$4\(to nearest integer), either measured for this study or from data extracted from
the literature

1956 83 Vol. 76

I am of the opinion that we have two perfectly distinct geographical
races of D. adsimilis in the low country extending from southern Zululand
to southern Portuguese East Africa. The transition from one race to the
other is, judging on available data, accomplished in a relatively short
distance in closely similar country, and there is no obvious zone of inter-
gration between the two forms. Reduced dimensions and lightening of
the plumage colouration are common phenomena in many of the resident
bird races of north-eastern Zululand, Swaziland and Portuguese East
Africa, when compared with those of the Cape and Natal, and the criteria
which have just been noted in respect of the indigenous populations of
D. adsimilis parallel closely what is already well-known and accepted in
our Classification in the case of many other species of birds. The evidence
available from this study suggests that the two forms of D. adsimilis
belong to two discrete elements of the South African fauna, and as such
warrant nomenclatural segregation..

Peters, ‘“‘Journal fiir Ornithologie’’, vol. xvi, 1868, p. 132, introduced
the name Dicrurus fugax for the small-sized birds of Portuguese East
Africa, the type-localities being Tete and Inhambane, and it would seem
desirable to resurrect this name for all the populations of small-sized birds
which range from north-eastern Zululand and Swaziland through Por-
tuguese East Africa, the Zambesi Valley, most of northern Rhodesia,
Nyasaland and Tanganyika Territory to Kenya Colony and Uganda. All
the wing-measurements which I have taken from fully adult birds collected
within the range of D. a. fugax as here defined, in addition to those given
by Vaurie, op. cit., pp. 223-224, are unquestionably smaller than those
available for D. a. adsimilis, and there is virtually no overlap (see Table).

In dealing with the populations of the lowlands of south-eastern Africa,
I have shown that D. a. adsimilis and D. a. fugax replace one another
extremely rapidly and that there is no marked zone of intergradation.
This is, of course, exceptional and throughout most of their distribution
the ranges of both races tend to overlap to a varying degree (this is clearly
shown in the accompanying map). The populations of the eastern and
northern Transvaal are intermediate, with wings in $3 measuring 126.5—
138.5 mm., and similar unstable populations are found on the Southern
- Rhodesian plateau and in Ngamiland (wings of ¢3 127— 137 mm.), and
large-sized birds (wings in 33 up to 137 mm.) from Mpika, Northern
Rhodesia, suggest the presence of a similar condition in areas far to the
north of the Zambesi valley. Additional information given by Vaurie
shows that still further north the two races intergrade in the region of
Lake Tanganyika.

Earlier attempts to re-instate D. a. fugax as a valid race have received
little support from workers, and Friedmann, ‘‘Bulletin of the United
States National Musum’’, No. 153, 1937, pp. 61-65, dismissed the race
simply on the grounds that specimens from Changamwe (near Mombasa,
coastal Kenya Colony) with wings in adult $9 123.5 — 129 mm. were
found not to differ in size from those of the interior districts of the same
territory. Vaurie, op. cit., p. 227, in supporting these findings in defence
of his own actions, gives still further measurements from various districts
of East Africa, but such arguments are actually quite untenable, because
the question is not that of resolving in terms of nomenclature slight size

‘Vol. 76 84 | 1956

differences between contiguous eastern African populations of D. adsimilis,
but rather one of deciding if eastern African birds are different in size to

those of South Africa. On this point there need be no further doubt. The —

extensive measurements given by these workers fit in perfectly with the
measurements taken during my recent studies, and which are here detailed :

TABLE 1
WING-MEASUREMENTS OF FULLY ADULT D. adsimilis IN SOUTH AFRICAN COLLECTIONS
STUDIED

D. a. adsimilis

Cape Province, Natal, southern g¢ 134, 135, 135, 135.5, 135.5, 135.5, 136,
Zululand 137, 137, 137,,.138,..138,, T3geboe, 48
138, 138, 138.5, 139, 139, 139s, 139, 139;
139, 139.5, 139.5, 140, 140.5, 142 mm.
GO 130;.130;-130, 13125; 132/dageess i:
133.5, 134, 134, 134, 134, 134.5, 136, 136,
137 D3 138, 138 mm.
29 specimens. Range 5 134-142 (Mean 137.8 mm.).
19 specimens. Range 99 130-138 (Mean 133.7 mm.).
Transvaal (Pretoria), Bechuana- 4 132.5, 133, 136, 136, 137, 138, 138, 138,
land (not Ngamiland), South — 140, 140, 140.5 mm.
West Africa QO 132, 132.5, 133.5, 134, 134, 1332435 mm.
11 specimens. Range S35 132.5-140.5 (Mean 137.2 mm.).
7 specimens. _ Range aa 132- 135 (Mean 133. i mm).

D. a. adsinilis > D. a. Yagax

Eastern and northern Trans- do 125, 126.5, 126.5, 127, 127.5, 128, 129,
vaal, Southern Rhodesia, 130, 130,130, 130, ‘130.5, 13T-Saa2s 132,
Ngamiland 132, ' 132,152, 132, 132. TSP as, 1 a4,

134, 135, 137, 138.5 mm.
OO 421) 123,125, 125, 127.512 yea
129, 129:5,- 130:5,.,1S1,- IS aac a
132, 132, :132.5,.132.5, 132.5 -135-0 1
27 specimens. Range So 125-138.5 (Mean 131.1 mm.).
21 | specimens. Range 9 121- 133. 5 (Mean 129.3 mm.).

D. a. fugax
Northern Zululand, Swaziland, 4 125, 125.5, 126, 126.5, 127, 127, 127.5,
southern Portuguese East 127. 5, 127: 5 129, 129, 132 mm.
Africa and Zambesia OO AQ? 123, 125.5, 127.5 mm.

12 specimens. Range dj 125-132 (Mean 127.4 mm.).
4 specimens. Range 99 122-127.5 (Mean 124.5 mm.).
Nyasaland and south-eastern jg 127, 127, 128, 128, 129, 131 mm.
Northern Rhodesia OP 124, 127.5, 128, 130.5 mm.
6 specimens. Range Gg 127-131 (Mean 128.3 mm.).
4 specimens. Range 29 124-130.5 (Mean 127.5 mm.).

We can conclude on the basis of the extensive series of measurements and
other data now available that the race D. a. adsimilis of recent workers is
an unsatisfactory unit, especially in view of the findings made in the area
of south-eastern Africa extending from Natal to southern Portuguese
East Africa. I believe that it would be more accurate for us to recognize
two races instead of the current one, and the: nomenclature, characters
and ranges of these can be summarized as follows:

1956 85 Vol. 76

1. Dicrurus adsimilis adsimilis (Bechstein)

Corvus adsimilis Bechstein, ‘‘Johann Latham’s Allgemeine Uebersicht
der V6gel,’’ vol. ii, part 1, 1794: South Africa. Restricted type-locality:
Duwyenshoek River, southern Cape Province, South Africa.

_ Plumage wholly glossy black, except for primaries which have inner
_ webs brownish. Tail deeply forked. Measurements: wings g¢ 134-142,
— 92 130-138, tails dS 116-127, culmens gg 25-28 mm. (Based on topo-

typical material).

Note: Young birds are smaller than adults and are duller in plumage,
the under-surfaces flecked with white. The adult plumage is not attained
until the second complete moult.

Range: The Cape Province, Natal, southern Zululand and most of the
Transvaal northwards in the west through Bechuanaland and South West
Africa to Angola, north-western Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo
in areas to the south of the equatorial rain. forest. Intergrades with
D. a. fugax in the eastern and northern Transvaal, the Southern Rhodesian
plateau, Ngamiland, parts of Northern Rhodesia, and in the Lake Tangan-
yika area, and replaced by D. a. coracinus of the forested regions of the
Congo, which occurs to the north of its range.

2. Dicrurus adsimilis fugax Peters

Dicrurus fugax Peters, ‘‘Journal fiir Ornithologie,’’ vol. xvi, 1868, p. 132:
Tete and Inhambane, Portuguese East Africa.

Similar to D. a. adsimilis but rather deeper, less bluish black, and with
the inner webs of the primaries paler. Much smaller in size.

Measurements: Wings 33 125-132, 92 122-130.5, tails gg 108-117,
culmens g¢ 22-24 mm. (Based on all available adult specimens).

Range: North-eastern Zululand, Swaziland and southern Portuguese
East Africa to the Zambesi Valley, the south-eastern half of Northern
Rhodesia and Nyasaland northwards in the east to Tanganyika Territory,
Kenya Colony and Uganda. Intergrades with D. a. divaricatus to the north
of its range and with D. a. adsimilis to the west, as recorded above.

Note: D. a. divaricatus differs from D. a. fugax in having the tail much
less deeply bifurcated, while the nominate race is similar to the latter in
this respect.

Remarks on the nidification of the Forest-Robin
_ Stiphrornis erythrothorax Hartlaub

by Dr. WILLIAM SERLE and CapT. CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 19th January, 1956
Hitherto all that was known of the nidification of Stiphrornis erythro-
thorax was a brief note by Bates (Birds of West Africa, 1930, p. 398) on
S. e. xanthogaster Sharpe describing a shallow nest of moss said to have
been found hidden at the base of a tree in the forest.
The systematic position of Stiphrernis. Hartlaub has for long been in
doubt. Reichenow (Vog. Afr. i1, 1905, p. 623) and Sclater (Syst. Ay.
_Aethiop. ii, 1930, p. 546) placed it amongst the Sy/viidae, Jackson (Birds
of Kenya Colony and Uganda Prot., i1, 1938, p. 1088) following Sclater,
whilst Bates (loc.cit.) and Chapin (Birds of Belg. Congo, iti, 1953, p. 507)
place it amongst the Turdidae,

Vol. 76 86 1956

Recent information about the nest and eggs of S. e. erythrothorax and
S. e. mabirae Jackson confirms the claims of Bates and Chapin .

S. e. erythrothorax

On 3rd April, 1953, in the Mamu Forest, Onitsha Province, Nigeria,
one of us (W.S.) found a nest in high primary forest. The female was
watched back to the nest and secured. The site was a niche between the
bole and a buttress of a great tree three feet above the forest floor. The
bulk of the nest was of damp green moss mixed with bits of bark, and
there was a well-defined inner lining of short thin fibrous strips. An open
cup, somewhat asymmetrical in conformance with the irregular contours
of the niche. Total depth 110 mm.; inner depth of cup 40 mm.; external
measurement at the rim 95x 80mm.; internal measurement at rim
65 x 50 mm.

The two half-incubated eggs measured 21.3 x 14.6 and 21.7 x 14.7 mm.
They are ovate with the small end truncated and the shell is smooth and
slightly glossy. The green ground is thickly and indistinctly blotched and
spotted with reddish-brown and orange-brown. The markings are con-
fluent about the broad end where they form a solid rich reddish-brown cap.
Stiphrornis e. mabirae

W. J. Eggeling of the Uganda Forest Department found a nest on 6th
March, 1940, in the Budongo Forest in central Uganda. The eggs, on the
point of hatching out and impossible to clean, and the nest were sent to
C.R.S.P. Measuring 20.7 x 14.4 mm. and 20.9 x 14.3 mm., the eggs were
bluntly ovate, somewhat glossy and resembled in miniature eggs of
Cossypha heuglini Hartlaub. Ground colour pale olive-greenish, almost
totally obscured by fine markings of various shades of dull reddish and
pale chestnut, producing a general brownish-red effect. A few scarcely
perceptible underlying marks of pale mauve and lilac, and a distinct ring-
zone of these shades at the top of large end of each egg.

The nest was on the ground in dead leaves in the hollow formed by two
buttresses of a small tree in dense, high canopy forest. The foundation
was dead leaves and the cup composed of soft green moss, thickly lined
with black hair-like Mycelium and a few very fine blackish rootlets. Very
roughly, owing to distortion in transit, the cup was about 63.5 mm. in
diameter and 38 mm. in depth.

The parent was not collected, but Eggeling is a competent ornithologist
and I have complete confidence in his identification: Stiphrornis at close
quarters is unmistakeable. In forwarding the nest and eggs he wrote ‘‘you
need have no fear as to the authenticity of these eggs although unsupported
by a skin. I had a perfect view of the brooding bird both on and off the
nest and have absolutely no doubt as to the diagnosis.’’ Eggeling stressed
its robin-like appearance, its relative tameness and the speed with which it
returned to its eggs. According to Bannerman (Birds of Tropical West
Africa, iv, 1936, p. 413), referring to the race gabonensis Sharpe, Boyd
Alexander found it ‘‘a tame and confiding bird, reminding him in its
habits of our English robin.’

Apart from the unmistakeable turdine behaviour of Stiphrornis, ‘the nest —
and eggs too are typically turdine and provide the taxonomist with a
diagnostic for the correct placing of the genus. Dr. Serle’s specimen and
eggs were exhibited at a meeting of the B.O. Club on 13th December, 1955,

1956 Die 87 | Vol. 76

First Record of the Chinese Lesser Crested Tern,
Thalasseus zimmermanni, from Thailand
by Mrs. B. P. HALL

Exhibited at the February meeting, 1956

Among the unrecorded specimens from the Williamson collection are
three males in winter plumage of the Chinese Lesser Crested Tern,
Thalasseus zimmermanni (Reichenow), shot by one of Sir Walter’s collec-
tors at Nakhon Sithammarat, east coast Peninsular Thailand, on 22nd
November, 1923. Since the only specimens recorded of this rare Tern are
from Shantung, Foochow and the Philippine Islands, this is a notable
extension to its known range; the three specimens are the first of this species
in the National Collection. | .

On the collector’s labels the colour of the bill is given as *‘deep yellow’’
but even in the skin the black apical half, characteristic of the species, is
evident. The black extends from the extreme tip, which is pale horn in the
skin, for about 23 mm. towards the base, on both upper and lower
mandibles. The legs are black and the colour of the iris is recorded as dark
brown. In all three specimens the wings are in moult and the tips of the
old primaries are. worn and damaged so that the full length cannot be
measured; the damaged wings measure 300, 305, 308 mm.: bills 60, 61,
64 mm.: tails 146, 131, 138 mm.

Note on Sir Walter Williamson, C.M.G.
and his Bird and Egg Collections from Thailand

by Mrs. B. P. HALL

Based on remarks made at the February meeting, 1956

Sir Walter Williamson went out to Thailand in the early part of the
century as Financial Advisor to the Government. During his residence
there he made considerable collections of birds and eggs; many of these he
collected himself, mostly in the vicinity of Bangkok and other towns in the
lower part of the country; he also sent collectors further afield, notably to
north-western Thailand, which was then virtually unknown ornithological
territory, and to the coast of Cambodia, Cochin China and Pulau Condore.
_ He was also one of the organisers of an expedition in 1919 to the Mekong
River (bis 1931: 319-341 and Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 41, 1920: 10) and many |
of the birds collected on it were retained in his own collection.

When he left the country in 1925 he was appointed to Estonia, and his
collections with the exception of 250 skins which he had presented earlier,
were boxed and stored at the British Museum (Natural History) until such
time as he had an opportunity to work on them. Unfortunately this was
not possible until 1948, for he retired only a short time before the outbreak
_of war and during the war his collections were sent to Tring for safe keep-
ing. In 1949 he presented the egg collection to the Museum; it consists
of about 4,500 eggs of over 100 different species and is undoubtedly the
finest collection ever made from Thailand. The eggs were checked and
worked on by the late Mr. W. E. Glegg at Tring. Sir Walter himself made

Vol. 76 88 1956

a start on the skin collection and was preparing notes on his specimens —
up to the time of his last illness. He died in the autumn of 1954 leaving
the Museum his collection of 6,200 skins of 550 species; it includes three
types and many forms new to the collection, and is invaluable as a link
between the extensive material from Burma, Indo-China and Malaya
already in the Museum.

Sir Walter published some notes on his early collections in the Journal
of the Natural History Society of Siam (vols. 1-3, 1914-1919), a journal of
which he was co-editor; others of his skins were studied and recorded by
Robinson and Kloss in ‘‘The Birds of South-west and Peninsular Siam
(Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam 5, 1921-24) and in other papers by these
workers. More recently Sir Walter published further notes (/bis 1945 and
1947) but a large part of the collection remained unrecorded.

Although all the skins have now been studied it 1s not proposed to
publish a paper on the whole collection. Notes on all specimens have,
however, been sent to Mr. H. G. Deignan of the United States National
Museum, Washington, so that any new records for Thailand, or extensions
of ranges of races based on Sir Walter’s specimens, may be included in the
check list of Thai birds which he is preparing.

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Notices

BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN”’

Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each.
Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological
Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available.

Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no
longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes,
- Esq., as above.

DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1956
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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

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BUELEFIN.
OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76

Number 6
Published: Ist September, 1956

Owing to the inability of the proposed speaker to attend on
Tuesday, 15th May, no meeting or dinner was held in May.

Two New Races of Weavers (Ploceidae) from Mozambique

by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY
Received 9th January, 1956

During the recent Durban Museum Expedition to Swaziland and south-
ern Mozambique (August — September, 1955) particular attention was
paid to the various weavers occurring in that sector of south-eastern
Africa. A series of $3 in breeding dress of the Spotted-backed Weaver
Ploceus spilonotus Vigors collected by the expedition shows that the
Mozambique populations differ markedly from those of the eastern Cape
Province (topotypical) and Natal and appear to warrant segregation as
a new race. The Thick-billed or Grosbeak Weaver Amblyospiza albifrons
(Vigors) specimens collected by our party are referable to two quite
distinct races: the nominate one which was taken just to the north of
Louren¢o Marques, and a much smaller and paler form which occurs to
the northward. This latter race is apparently without a name and is
formally described below.

I am grateful to Dr. A. A. da Rosa Pinto, Director of the Museu
Dr. Alvaro de Castro, Lourenco Marques, for permitting me to study the
extensive collection of Mozambique birds housed in that institution, and
for so readily arranging the necessary permits and introductions which
enabled the Durban Museum party to operate in Portuguese territory with
the utmost facility. Thanks are also due to Dr. G. Rudebeck, Ornitholo-
gist of the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, Mr. J. G. Williams, Ornithologist |
of the Coryndon Memorial Museum, Nairobi, and Miss M. Courtenay-
Latimer, Director of the East London Museum, for the loan of essential
comparative material.

Ploceus spilonotus dilutescens, subsp. nov.

Type: 3 adult. Palmeira, north of Manhica, Sul do Save, southern
Mozambique. 26th September, 1955. Collected by P. A. Clancey. In the
collection of the Durban Museum.

Diagnosis: Adult 3 in breeding dress similar to P. s. spilonotus Vigors,
1831: Algoa Bay, Cape Province, but differs in having the yellow tips and

Vol. 76 90 1956

edges to the mantle, rump and wing feathers much lighter, less deep
golden yellow. Black mask and throat more jet, less sooty, black. Ventrally
much paler yellow, particularly on the abdomen, than in the nominate ~
race. Using the colour nomenclature of C. and J. Villalobos, ‘‘Colour
Atlas’’, Buenos Aires, 1947, the ventral colouration of P. s. dilutescens
reads Y YO-16-12°, that of the nominate race OY—15-12°. 9° in breeding
dress not at present known. ¢ and @ in non-breeding dress paler and
clearer grey on mantle and whiter below, less dusky on the flanks, than in
P. s. spilonotus. Similar in size.

Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 91, culmen from base 23,
tarsus 24, tail 57.5 mm.

Range: Southern Mozambique, Swaziland, eastern and northern
Transvaal, and presumably the extreme north-eastern part of Zululand.
The populations of this weaver which are found to the west of the stated
range of P. s. dilutescens should also perhaps be placed here. The species
is recorded in the literature as occurring to the north-west at Lake Ngami,
as well as in Southern and Northern Rhodesia, but the evidence is in
most instances highly unsatisfactory, and, indeed, there is no recent or
properly authenticated record of its occurrence in Southern Rhodesia
(R. H. N. Smithers in Jitt.). It is considered unlikely that this species of
weaver occurs as a breeding bird in territory where the extremely closely
allied (if not conspecific) Ploceus nigriceps (Layard) is to be found.

Material: Breeding gg: P. s. dilutescens, 14 (southern Mozambique
8; Swaziland 2; eastern and northern Transvaal 4). P. s. spilonotus, 16
(eastern Cape Province 4; Natal 12). 92 and non-breeding ¢¢ and 9° of
both races, 25.

Remarks: The discovery of this new form in southern Mozambique is
interesting in that it has revealed the existence of demonstrable polytypic
variation in a species which has always been considered to show no
variation at all. The pattern of the geographical variation in P. spilonotus
is precisely similar to many other species whose races have comparable
ranges in south-eastern Africa.

With the description of this new race, the range of the nominate sub-
species can be defined as follows: the eastern Cape Province from about
Port Elizabeth to Pondoland, mainly in the coastal districts, and in Natal
and southern Zululand. .

Amblyospiza albifrons woltersi, subsp. nov.

Type: & adult. Manhiga, Sul do Save, southern Mozambique. 27th
September, 1955. Collected by P. A. Clancey. In the collection of the
Durban Museum. |

Diagnosis: The adult 9 differs from that of A. a. albifrons (Vigors),
1831: Algoa Bay, Cape Province, in being paler on the upper-parts and —
less heavily striated ventrally. In Size very much smaller, thus—wings J
(flattened) of 4 22 83—86.5 (85.0) as against 90.5—96 (92. 8) mm. in age
series of A. a. albifrons from the eastern Cape and Natal, tails 59—61.5 _
(60.6) and 66—70 (68.0) mm. respectively. The bill is also much less —
massive (see figures). The characters of the adult § are unknown, but are
presumably similar to those of the adult § of A. a. unicolor. Compared
with A. a. unicolor (Fischer and Reichenow), 1878: Zanzibar, the 2 of —
A. a. woltersi is similar in size, but differs in being paler and less uniform —

ho 4

1956 | | 91 Vol. 76

dark rusty brown on the upper-parts, and in having the ground colour of
the ventral surface white, with no buffish wash. The ear-coverts are also
less dark and rusty, as are the wings and tail. A. a. montana van Someren,
1921: Fort Hall, Kenya Colony, resembles A. a. unicolor but the 3 is
larger and the 9 still darker on the upper parts and more strongly tinged
with buff ventrally. A. a. maxima Roberts, 1932: Kasane, Chobe River,
of northern Bechuanaland and Barotseland (western Northern Rhodesia),
is larger than the nominate race andjthe ¢ is blacker below.

Amblyospiza albifrons (Vigors)

Figures of female specimens showing the marked size difference in the bills of two
races of A. albifrons occurring in south-eastern Africa.

1. A. a. albifrons 2. A. a. woltersi

Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 84.5, culmen 19.5, tarsus
22, tail 59 mm.

Range: Southern Mozambique and adjacent eastern Southern Rhodesia.
Northern limits not yet known.

Material: A. a. woltersi, 7. A. a. albifrons, 34 (eastern Cape Province
9: Natal 20; north-eastern Zululand 1; Transvaal 2; extreme southern
Mozambique 2). A. a. unicolor, 10. A. a. montana, 2. A. a. maxima, 6.

Remarks: At Vila Luiza, just north of Lourengo Marques, we collected
two specimens which can be placed as the nominate race, their propor-
tions being large and in agreement with my material from the eastern Cape
Province and Natal, though the @ is paler dorsally. Further north,
at Manhica, which is also on the banks of the Incomati River, we found
only the small A. a. woltersi, which was in flocks in native cultivations,
consorting with Euplectes albonotata and Passer griseus. From these
observations, and also on the basis of the material in the collection of the
Museum Dr, Alvaro de Castro, it would appear that two quite discrete

Vol. 76 92 1956

races of this weaver occur in southern Mozambique. The precise range
limits of A. a. woltersi are not known, but it presumably enjoys a wide
distribution in the low, hot coastlands of Mozambique. Like the contig-
uous form, A. a. unicolor, A. a. woltersi is small and relatively weak-billed,
and the two races almost certainly meet in the lower Zambesi area, as
A. a. unicolor is found as far south as southern Nyasaland, specimens in
the Transvaal Museum collection from Mpimbi, Nyambadwe (Blantyre),
Chinteche and Chikwawa being referable to it. Benson, ‘‘Check List of
the Birds of Nyasaland,’’ 1953, p. 76, places Nyasa birds as nominate
A. albifrons, but the accuracy of this finding is not borne out by a study
of several specimens of Benson’s own collecting.

Most recent standard works on Ethiopian birds (vide Chapin, ‘“Birds
of the Belgian Congo,’’ part iv, 1954, pp. 298-299; Mackworth-Praed and
Grant, ‘‘Birds of Eastern and North Eastern Africa,’’ vol. ii, 1955, pp.
939-940, etc.) give nominate A. albifrons as ranging from the southern
Congo and southern Tanganyika Territory to the eastern Cape Province.
Owing to lack of material from many important areas it is not possible
for me to revise the several races which actually occur in the austral parts
of the species’ wide continental range, but I can state that A. a. albifrons
is limited in its distribution to the eastern Cape Province, Natal, Zululand,
the Transvaal and extreme southern Mozambique. In this race, and the
closely allied A. a. maxima, the bill reaches its most massive proportions,
but the wing length, though large, is equalled by other races, e.g., A. a.
montana, A. a. melanota, etc. These marked differences in the bill-size
between some of the races suggest the existence of local differences in feeding
habits. The nominate race spends most of its time in forests, feeding on the
hard-stoned fruits of forest trees, and the birds only leave such an environ-
ment in the breeding season, when they resort to reed-beds for nesting
purposes. As already noted above, we collected our non-breeding A. a.
woltersi in cultivation and not forest, which indicates that differences in
food preference and feeding habits exist between these two southern races
of this weaver, and are, perhaps, responsible for the salient variation in
bill-size.

: Text Figures

This new race of A. albifrons is named for Herr H. E. Wolters, the well-
known German systematist, in recognition of his services to our under-
standing of the African Ploceidae.

On the Systematic Position of the Yellow Bunting,
Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus in Hungary

by Dr. L. HORVATH AND Dr. A. KEVE
Received 25th February, 1956

I. Introduction. The Yellow Bunting, Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus,
is a very common bird in Hungary and is to be found in all suitable
biotops throughout the country. The great individual variation both in

colour and size stimulated the authorities of the National Museum to

collect a large series of this interesting species. They were collected in the

“sy

1956 . 93 | Vol. 76

Bo % ba 63 54 SF 8 87 8B BF 40 WR gs
Pie. 1” 2. citrinella, Wing measurements of Eastern Population.

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Fic. II E. citrinella. Wing measurements of Western Population.

Vol. 76 94 1956

whole Carpathian Basin. This material and the recent researches of Dr.
James M. Harrison (1954) provided us with the opportunity to study the
systematic position of the population of the Yellow Bunting in the Basin
of the Carpathians.

II]. Methods. The material which we have studied consits of 124
adult $ from the collection of the Hungarian National Museum, 5 speci-
mens from the collection of the Hungarian Institute of Ornithology and
3 from the collection of Dr. I. Patkai. We are grateful to him for his kind
help. Unfortunately the comparative material outside the Carpathians
was small, so we could not make a revision of Dr. Harrison’s results but
we have applied his methods to our series. Our comparative material
outside the Carpathians consisted of 20 adult ¢ as follows :— 1 Swedish,
15 Baltic, 3 U.S.S.R., 10 Central German birds and 1 Balkan specimen.

We have measured the wings and tails to 0.1 mm. On colour variation
we could separate these skins into two well marked groups, which we
arranged primarily according to seasons and then into geographical
distribution.

WI. The Races of the Yellow Bunting in the Basin cf the Carpathians.
All the Hungarian ornithologists referred the Hungarian Yellow Bunting
to E. c. citrinella Linnaeus, and so have other ornithologists. Harrison
was the first to refer the Central European birds to E. c. sylvestris Brehm
as distinct from the Scandinavian populations, and to state that the pop-
ulation of the Basin of the Carpathians is intermediate between E. c.
sylvestris Brehm and E. c. erythregenys Brehm. This is what we seek to
confirm. Both races have bright yellow undersides, so we cannot dis-
tinguish them from each other by the colour of these parts; we can only
affirm that there are two readily recognisable groups, one a bright yellow,
the other being somewhat paler. The dispersal of these variations is
approximately equal, but they show no seasonal nor geographical
relationship.

IV. Measurements. We have measured the wings of the 124 ¢ from
the Basin of the Carpathians and of the 30 ¢ from other countries with a
sliding caliper and not with a rule—this point is important because it
accounts for a difference of about 1 mm. between our results and. those of —
Dr. J. M. Harrison. We do not show the 0.1 mm. on our histograms of
wings, which show the measurements to the nearest millimetre. We have
also measured the tails of our series, but do not consider that the results
indicate a determining character, so these are not published. The geo-
graphical distribution of our material was most fortunate in that we could
divide it into a western and an eastern half of the Carpathian Basin, the
material being numerically approximately equal; from the west 58 skins, ~
from the east 66 skins of adult . We lacked skins from the central territory —
(Alféld — Hungarian Plain), but this circumstance showed us clearly ~
that the Yellow Buntings of the eastern part of the Basin are mostly short
winged, 89 mm. or shorter (Fig. I.), while those of the western end have
a relatively long wing, 90 mm. or longer (Fig. II.).

This result confirmed the opinion of Dr. J. M. Harrison, that the
populations of the Yellow Bunting in Hungary are very mixed. We can
complete his results by stating that the western populations approach

1956 95 | Vol. 76

those of the populations of Czeckoslovakia to the north-west, and the
birds of Austria to the west and to the populations of Croatia to the
south-west. The population of west Hungary, westwards of the Danube
is very close to the race E. c. sylvestris Brehm, whereas the Yellow Buntings
eastwards of the Tisza river, especially from Transylvania show a close
affinity to the north-east to the populations of the U.S.S.R., and to the
south-west to the populations of Rumania, so that the populations of the
eastern part of the Basin of the Carpathians approach very closely the
race E. c. erythrogenys Brehm.

We have arranged our material according to colour in two groups:
(1) paler type; (II) brighter fulvous type. In our material, 63 specimens
belong to the first group, 60 specimens to the second. One skin was not
used on account of its chlorochroism. Jt is true that there are some
individual variations, especially from south Transylvania, which are not
to be distinguished from the typical E. c. erythregenys, but even the
series does not conform to colour nor on measurements. The material
demonstrates a heterogenic population, as the following table shows.
(A—birds in nuptial plumage from Ist February to 31st July; B—birds
in moult from Ist August to 31st January. I—Pale colour group; Ii—
bright colour group).

Western Part of the Basin of the Carpathians

I

North-western Carpathians .... .....
rannony Clrasdanuby)

Croatia (Adtia district); Masry on

pe OO ee

Eastern Part of the Basin of the C. arpathians

North-eastern Carpathians .... _..... A. 2 —
B. 3 4
Sraiisy vantage ete ye A. 23 23
Bee r3 ys
South-eastern Hungarian Plain (Alfold) A. 4 4
B. 2 2

We investigated the moustachial stripe of our specimens after the
results of V. Malzev (1941), but in our series there are only 3 or 4 skins
with moustachial stripes and then only feebly developed.

Summary. 1. The authors have studied the following material from .
the Carpathian Basin—124 adult ¢ Yellow Buntings and 30 from other
parts of Europe.

2. The result of this study shows that the Yellow Bunting populations
of the western part of the Basin is very close to the Central European
form E. c. sylvestris, while the population of the eastern part is close to
E. c. erythrogenys Brehm, but the populations are very mixed.

References

1. Harrison, Dr. James M., ‘‘Remarks on the Taxonomy of the Yellow Bunting,
Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus’’, Bull. B.O.C., Part I, Vol. 74, pp. 105-112; Part II, Vol. 75,
pp. 6-12; Part III, Vol. 75, pp. 17-21.

2:

Vol. 76 96 1956

A New Race of Leafbird from Indochina

by Mrs. B. P. HALL AND Mr. H. G. DEIGNAN
Received 21st January, 1956

A study of the skins of the Leafbird Chloropsis cochinchinensis Gmelin
from Burma, Thailand and Indochina in the United States National
Museum, Washington, and the British Museum (Natural History),
London, has shown some taxonomic revision to be necessary. Members
of the genus Chloropsis are not easy to study on the museum table since,
through some quality in the feathers, a slight change in the angle at which
the light falls on them gives the effect of altering the tone. Both of us
experienced some difficulty in laying out specimens so that the light fell con-
sistently on them, and it was found that the most satisfactory method was to
lay the skins on theirjsidesina row. When this was done with the males it was
seen that four races can be distinguished in these countries, as follows—

1. Chloropsis c. seri-thai Deignan 1946, of Peninsular Thailand and
north-eastern Malaya, has sapphire-blue wings, a yellow band from the
lores covering the side of the neck to connect the black of the gorget with
the gold suffusion of occiput, upper back and lower breast, and a heavy bill.

2. Chloropsis c. cochinchinensis of Cochinchina, southern Annam, Bas
Laos, Cambodia, south-eastern Thailand and the south-eastern part of the
eastern Siamese plateau, has the wings paler blue, the same yellow band
covering the side of the neck, and a less heavy bill.

3. Chloropsis c. chlorocephala (Walden) 1871, of western and northern
Thailand and Burma, has the wings and bill as in cochinchinensis but has
the yellow band on the side of the neck generally duller and less distinct.
(On the limited material from Assam in the British Museum it is not
possible to recognise the characters ascribed to Chloropsis c. chloreus
Koelz 1954).

4. Chloropsis cochinchinensis subsp. nov. of north-eastern Thailand,
northern Laos and Annam, and Tonkin, has the yellow band even duller
and narrower and much less gilding on the side of the neck.

Thus, while it is not easy to distinguish single specimens of the western
race chlorocephala from cochinchinensis birds from northern Indochina
are readily separated from both chlorocephala and those of the south.
The relative darkness of northern birds was noted by Delacour (Oiseau
1951: 94). Thirty males and twenty females of the new northern race
have been studied in comparison with large series of the other races.

We propose that the new race shall be named in honour of Sir Norman
Kinnear, C.B.

Chloropsis cochinchinensis kinneari subsp. nov.

Type: < Bao-Ha, Tonkin, collected by H. Stevens, 29th October 1923.
In the British Museum, registered number 1924. 12. 21. 104.

Description: The darkest and dullest of all races of Chloropsis cochin-
_ chinensis. Closest to chlorocephala of Burma, but lacking in both males and
females most of the gold suffusion on the head, neck and upper breast, and
having the green of the back darker, devoid of golden suffusion: in the
male having the yellow band bordering the black gorget narrow and dull.

Range: Tonkin: N. Annam (Phuqui; Khebon): N. Laos (Xien-
Khouang): N.E. Thailand (Loei, Sakon Nakhon, and Nakhon Phanom
Provinces).

1956 97 | Vol. 76

A Note on the Polynesian Black or Sooty Rail
Porzana nigra (Miller) 1784

by Miss AVERIL LYSAGHT
Received 27th January, 1956

The Polynesian Black or Sooty Rail appears regularly in current
literature as Porzana tabuensis (Gmelin) 1789, although Sherborn and
Iredale pointed out as long ago as 1921 that Miller’s name of Rallus
nigra was the earliest one given to this bird. In view of one or two mis-
statements that have appeared about Miller’s work it seems worth while
recording briefly what is known of the early accounts and records of this
species.

This widely distributed little rail was discovered at Tahiti and painted
by Georg Forster (/con. ined., 1, pl. 130) on Cook’s second voyage,
1772-1775. Forster’s plate was copied by J. F. Miller and published as
No. 50 in the series issued 1776-1792 (Sherborn and Iredale, 1921) under
the title ‘‘Various Subjects of Natural History’’. The interleaved text
gave no particulars except for the name of the bird, Rallus nigra, and the
locality, Otaheite. Miller’s plate is very close to Forster’s save that the
bird is depicted standing instead of crouching, that it is almost uniformly
black and only slightly paler below, instead of having a grey head and
undersurface contrasting with the back and wings, and that the iris and
legs are bright chestnut brown instead of red. In the second edition of
Miller’s plates, the ‘‘Cimelia Physica’’ published in 1796, the bird is
uniformly sooty above and below; both editions of the plates were hand
coloured and Sherborn has already pointed out that the colouring in the
second edition is less accurate than in the first.

Porzana nigra is fairly stable in colouring throughout its range though
there is some variation with age in the colouring of the undersurface and
the soft parts. There is also some variation in size. Latham in 1785 (pp.
135-136) separated the Tabuan from the Tahitian Rail, and four years
later his accounts, slightly shortened, were translated into Latin by
Gmelin and published as descriptions of Rallus tabuensis and R. tahitiensis;
Gmelin gave no reference to Miller’s plate. Amadon (1942) has now
recognised two races of what he calls Porzana tabuensis.

When Miller’s ‘‘Cimelia Physica’’ was published in 1796 the plates
were accompanied by textual descriptions by George Shaw; the Polynesian
Black Rail appeared under the name of Rallua tabuensis, and Latham’s ©
Tabuan Rail was placed, with a query, in the synonymy of the species.
Shaw remarked that the rail had been discovered when Banks was in the
Pacific, a statememt of doubtful validity, probably arising from the fact
that Forster’s plates were in Banks’s possession; he also noted that there
was some variation in colour and that some specimens were brownish and
lighter in colour than the bird in the published plate. This was also noted
by William Anderson, (Char. brev. ay., p. 4) surgeon and naturalist, who
sailed with Cook on the second and last voyages, and whose MS. notebook
on the birds collected on these voyages still survives.

Owing to the rarity of the first edition of Miller’s plates, and to the fact

Vol. 76 98 1956

that in the second edition the rail appeared under one of the names given
to it by Gmelin, Miller’s Rallus nigra fell into oblivion and remained
there until Sherborn and Iredale published their findings on the dates of
Miller’s plates in 1921, with a list of the names involved. They considered
that Gmelin’s name was antedated by Miller’s, but did not know whether
there might not be some differences between the birds from Tonga and
Tahiti, nor how they were related to the black rail from Henderson Island
in the Tuamotu group, which has now been placed in another genus,
Nesophylax. Mathews (1927, p. 92) accepted Miller’s name as correct for
the Polynesian Black Rail from Tahiti, Tonga and Fiji, but considered that
the birds from the last two island groups were distinct races.

Peters (1934, p. 188) discussed Miller’s plate but was incorrect in one
or two details. He stated that Miller gave no locality whereas, as pointed
out above, Otaheite is clearly stated to have been the type locality. He
also said that Miller depicted a wholly black rail, and that his bird was
rather larger than tabuensis, whereas the exposed culmen of the bird
figured is 19 mm. the length of the wing 72.5 mm. and the tarsus about
32 mm., measurements which do not exceed some given by Amadon (1942)
in the large series of skins collected by the Whitney expedition. Peters
placed Miller’s bird doubtfully in the synonymy of Nesophylax ater
(North) 1908, but in view of what has been stated above there seems little
doubt that this view cannot be adhered to, and that the very widely dis-
tributed species about which Amadon has given so many interesting
details should be known as Porzana nigra (Miller) 1784.

My attention was drawn to this question of nomenclature when I was
cataloguing Georg Forster’s bird paintings for the Hakluyt Society; I am
most grateful to the Secretary of that body, and to Mr. J. D. Macdonald
of the Bird Room, British Museum (Natural History), for the facilities
placed at my disposal. I am happy to record my debt to Sir Norman
Kinnear for his kind help over the preparation of this note.

References

Amadon, Dean. 1942. ‘‘Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Expedition. ’’
49. Amer. Mus. Novit. 1175, pp. 10-11.

Anderson, William. ?1775. Characteres breves avium (in itinere nostro circum orbe visa)
adhuc incognitarum anni 1772, 1773, 1774 et 1775. MS. notebook, Zoology Dept.,
British Museum (Natural History).

Forster, Georg. 1772-1775. Icon. Anim. Ined. 1. Zoology Dept., British Museum
(Natural History).

Forster, J. R. 1844. Descriptiones Animalium quae in itinere ad maris australis terras per
annos 1772, 1773 et 1774 suscepto collegit observavit et delineavit J. R. Forster. (Ed.
Lichtenstein.) Berlin.

Gmelin, J. F. 1789. Systema Naturae 2. Leipzig.
Latham, J. 1785. A General Synopsis of Birds, 3. London.
Mathews, G. M. 1927-30. Systema Avium Australasianarum. London.

Miller, J. F. 1776-1785. Various Subjects of Natural History. London.
—— and Shaw, George. 1796. Cimelia Physica. London.

Peters, J. L. 1934. Check-List of Birds of the World, 2. Cambridge, U.S.A.
Sherborn, C. D., and Iredale, T. 1921. J. F. Miller’s Icones. Jbis, 11th Ser., 3, pp. 302-9.

1956 99 ) Vol. 76

Notes on the Drinking Habits of Birds in Semi Desertic

Bechuanaland

By Mr. MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN
Received 29th December, 1955

The notes that follow were made in Northern Bechuanaland, Ngamiland
and the western Kalahari during the C. S. Barlow Expedition of the
National Museum of Southern Rhodesia in September and October 1954,
whose primary object was the collection of Ornithological material.

All observations were made at pans, wells, or water holes, usually close
to camp; localities at which these were made are as follows: The Nata
River and the Makarikari Pan at its junction with the Nata, Mumpswe,
15 miles west of Nata; Odiakwe and Bushmans Pits on the main Nata-
Maun road; Lake Ngami, then rapidly filling and a vast expanse of water;
the Ghanzi district; and finally the isolated Tsodilo Hills, 35 miles west of
the Okavango delta at Sepopa.

Notes made concerned mostly the smaller Passerines, observations on
large birds such as Bustards being difficult. Sandgrouse, whose drinking
behaviour is so well known are not discussed.

The ability to subsist without drinking must have a strong bearing
upon bird distribution in arid areas and a major factor in limiting the
dispersal of those forms which depend on a regular water supply. Grani-
verous species seem most dependant upon a regular supply, but insufficient
is known of the types of food taken. It is significant, however, that most
small insect eating Passerines are able to subsist without taking moisture,
though the Hirundines as a whole seem to be an exception, and to Swifts,
also aerial plankton feeders the same would seem to apply.

No members of the following Passerine families were seen at water:-
Timaliidae, Muscicapidae, Turdidaet, Sylviidae, Zosteropidae, Prionopidae,
Dicruridae, Paridae, Laniidae and Nectariniidae.

In the list that follows, species marked with an asterisk were trapped 2
means of using water as bait.

Numididae.

Guineafowl, Numida mitrata though undoubtedly able to exist without
water over long periods, drink when it is available. At Ghanzi, Guineafowl
coming to drink at a well, were prevented from doing so through our
presence and roosted for two successive nights in the vicinity, on each
occasion having had to go without.

Columbidae.

In the Kalahari and adjacent arid Mopane areas Streptopelia sene-
galensis is widespread, watering regularly in the early mornings and again
in the late evening, and on occasion must have to travel great distances.
On the other hand S. capicola does not appear to occur away from the
close proximity of permanent water.

Apodidae.

Migrant Apus apus were seen coming down to the Mumpswe pans;
in Southern Rhodesia Apus spp. are frequent at water.

TT urdus litsipsirupa in the Ghanzi district is a possible exception.

Vol. 76 100 1956

Alaudidae.

Larks of the genus Mirafra seem quite independant of water, the four
species observed being M. africana, M. africanoides, M. apiata and
M. sabota. On the other hand, the Sparrow Larks, Eremopterix leucotis
and E. verticalis drink at least twice a day; in the early morning and again
in the evening, though at Mumpswe, EL. verticalis and to a lesser extent
E. leucotis came throughout the day. At this locality Calandrella cinerea
came to drink in considerable numbers; this is of interest, as Meinertz-
hagen with his very wide experience, states in Proc. Zool. Soc. 121: 1951,
p. 94 that he has never seen any lark of this genus at water. I have also
observed it drinking on a number of occasions in Southern Rhodesia,
so the habit must be regular in Southern Africa.

Motacillidae.

At Mumpswe, recently arrived Motacilla flava ssp., came regularly to
the pans, often in company with loose flocks of Anthus similis. The pallid
form of A. novaezealandiae that live around the saline Makarikari must
drink its waters, though at Mumpswe they took fresh water. A darker
form of this species was extremely abundant about Lake Ngami, and in
the Ghanzi district were seen visiting a limestone spring in what was
virtually waterless country.

Pycnonotidae.

Pycnonotus nigricans,* although it replaces P. barbatus in the dry
country, is closely tied to the vicinity of surface water which it takes
regularly, and is therefore very localised, but where water is present, it is
sure to be found, even at the remote Tsodilo spring.
Hirundinidae.

Riparia paludicola arrived irregularly at the Mumpswe pans, drinking
on the wing.

Sturnidae.

Lamprotornis nitens,* the only Glossy Starling of the Kalahari and the
waterless country generally, is completely dependant on surface water
and drinks regularly.

Ploceidae: Plocepasserinae.

Plocepasser mahali, though common and often in the vicinity of pans,
was never observed to drink.
Sporopipinae.

Although very abundant, especially at Ghanzi, Sporopipes squamifrons
seemed to be entirely independant of water.
Ploceinae.

Both Ploceus velatus* and Quelea quelea* drink regularly whereas
Anaplectes melanotus at Nata, Odiakwe and the Tsodilo Hills was
seemingly independent of water.

Estrildinae.

All Estrildines must apparently have water at regular intervals and at
Bushmans Pits and the Ghanzi district visited the available water supply
in large numbers and of the following species: Estrilda angolensis*,
E. granatina* and E. erythronotos*, and in the Ghanzi district alone,
Amadina erythrocephala. At the pans at Mumpswe and Odiakwe,
Ortygospiza atricollis was present in pairs or small flocks, coming to
drink throughout the day.

~ ¢ “

1956 101 | Vol. 76

Passeridae.

In the Ghanzi district Passer diffusus* came continuously to drink
throughout the day, the regularity of their arrival in flocks, sometimes
several hundred strong, pointed to their having traversed great distances.
On the other hand, Passer iagoensis* appeared to live only in the immediate
vicinity of water, and was even then uncommon, there not being more than
a pair at a pan.

Fringillidae: Fringillinae.

Serinus flaviventris at Ghanzi and S. atrogularis at Odiakwe and

Mumpswe came to drink at intervals in small flocks.

Emberizinae.
Emberiza flaviventris* came to drink at all localities where observations
were made.

Notes on Anomalophrys superciliosus (Reichenow)

in West Africa with special reference to its nidification.

by DR. WILLIAM SERLE
Exhibited at the December meeting of the B.O.C.

Dr. William Serle exhibited a series of Nigerian skins and eggs of
Anomalophrys superciliosus including a juvenile and a nestling in down,
and communicated the following remarks.

Anomalophrys superciliosus is a rather local and uncommon Plover of
tropical Africa described in 1886 by Reichenow (Journ. Ornith. 1886. pp.
115-116) from Mpara on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika on the
eastern Belgian Congo border. Since its discovery it has been reported
from widely separated localities in Togoland, the Gold Coast, French
Equatorial Africa, Uganda, Western Kenya, and the Belgian Congo.

From the recorded dates of its occurrence north and south of the equa-
torial forest, its regular biannual appearances within the Belgian Congo
equatorial forest, and an examination of the state of moult and gonads of
individual specimens, Chapin (Bds. of Belg. Congo, Vol. 2 p. 77) concluded
that Anomalophrys superciliosus was a regular transequatorial migrant
breeding in the northern savannas about January—April and spending the
off-season in the southern savannas.

To date the only definite recorded evidence of breeding of Anomal-
ophrys superciliosus is contained in a note by J. D. Clarke (Nigerian Field,
1936 pp. 129-130) who caught a young chick on 27th February in south
east Ilorin Province, Northern Nigeria. In West Africa it has been
recorded from several localitiest in the savanna north of the forest from
Krachi, 0° 5’ W on the Volta River in the west to Bozoum, 16° 22’ E in
French Cameroons in the east. The dates all fall between December and
July. The only forest locality in Rio del Rey, in the Cameroons mangrove
area. The two birds obtained there were not in their normal habitat and
they were probably on passage.

+ For details see Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. 1896, vol. 24, p. 156; Reichenow, Die Vogel
Afrikas, 1900, vol. 1, p. 163; Reichenow, Journ. Ornith., 1902, vol. 50, p. 11; Hartert,
Novit. Zool., 1915, vol. 22, p. 246; Grote, Journ. Ornith., 1925, vol. 73, p. 95; Heslop,
Ibis, 1937, pp. 174-175; Marchant, Ibis, 1942, p. 149.

Vol. 76 | 102 1956

My observations on Anomalophrys superciliosus were made in Onitsha
Province of Eastern Nigeria between February i953 and Febrary 1955
with a break from October 1953 until January 1954. The earliest date of
their arrival was Ist December, and the latest date of departure 8th June.
In December birds were already in pairs. Eggs were. laid in January or
February. In May the breeding grounds were deserted and family parties
united to form flocks of up to fifty strong. At this season they accumulated
fat. In early June they left the area.

In December-January the savanna in Onitsha Province is swept by grass
fires which leave the ground bare and charred and the trees and shrubs
blackened and leafless. As soon as the fire has passed, the Plovers select
their breeding places. If, as sometimes happens, the early fire clearings are
small in extent the available breeding terrain is correspondingly restricted.
Thus I have known three pairs of Plover breed within a radius of two
hundred yards. The restriction arises I believe from necessity and not
from any social tendency. It should be explained that the firing of the
savanna proceeds spasmodically over a period of several weeks until
almost all the grassland is burnt. The only safe place at this season for
ground breeders such as Plovers, Coursers, and Larks, to lay their eggs is
on ground already burnt.

Over a period of three breeding seasons eight nests with eggs were dis-
covered, all between 21st January and 5th February. Observations were
made at one nest situated a few yards from the window of an unoccupied
house which served as a hide. The male and female took turns in incubation
the change over being effected quickly and without ceremony in two or three |
seconds. The Plover was a restless brooder, frequently rising from the
eggs, turning round, and settling again in a new position, frequently
stretching out to pick some pebble off the ground to add to the collection
on the periphery of the nest, and sometimes even leaving the nest for a few
moments to retrieve some stone beyond the reach of its outstretched neck.

On the appearance of a human being, even at a great distance, the
brooding bird quietly ran off the eggs and remained in the vicinity stand-
ing motionless or moving round unostentatiously, picking at the ground,
feeding, or at least appearing to feed. This undemonstrative behaviour at
the nest proved to be normal for the species. At times the birds left the
vicinity entirely. Very occasionally birds with eggs behaved differently,
calling shrilly, and flying round, or posing or running about with both
wings drooped. Birds with small young also showed excitement, but at
no time did they indulge in the really extravagant behaviour exhibited by
many plover species at the nest.

In all cases the nest consisted of a shallow circular depression in the’
rather stony, red, lateritic ground. The surrounding terrain varied. In
grass savanna it consisted of bare earth and stones and the charred stumps”
of grass tufts. In orchard bush savanna there were in addition scattered —
shrubs and trees, either black and leafless or just breaking into fresh leaf. _
The eggs lay half-buried in an accumulation of little red stones and pebbles —
and fragments of ant hill varying in size from a lentil to a split pea, and
the same materials were heaped up peripherally to form a distinct ridge —
raised well above the level of the surrounding ground. The diameter of

—

bn

1956 | 103 | Vol. 76

‘the nests varied from 115 to 220 mm. and the depth at the centre was
about 25 mm.

The eggs are pyriform and have a smooth lustreless surface. Whilst
there is variation in the colour of the ground and markings all but one
clutch are decidedly erythristic. The exceptional clutch has an olive-clay
ground with blackish-brown and olive-brown primary and ashy secondary
markings. The eggs of this clutch resemble those of a common variety of
Vanellus vanellus (Linn.). In the remaining sets the ground ranges from
creamy buff through warm buff to pinkish-brown, and the markings take
the form of blackish, chocolate-brown, and red-brown blotches and spots
with ashy or pale mauve shell marks. It is the well-distributed, often bold,
richly coloured, clear-cut primary markings that impart character to the
eggs. One egg of a clutch is sometimes paler in ground and markings and
more sparsely marked than its fellows and in two instances this was
ascertained to be the last egg laid. In a partially pigmented oviduct egg
the ground was white tinged green.

The reddish colouration of the eggs matches the red soil on which they
are laid. The classical example of erythrism in limicoline eggs, that of
Lobipluvia malabarica (Boddaert) was described by Stuart Baker (Journ.
Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. (1931) vol. 35 p. 250). In India L. malabarica
usually lays erythristic eggs in a tract of country with red lateritic soil
whilst in country with normal black soil the eggs have the usual dull
ochre colour. The erythrism is generally regarded as adaptive.

As you will see from the series of eggs of A. supciliosus and L. malabarica
there is a striking similarity between both the erythristic and the non-
erythristic varieties of the two speciest. In India erythrism is confined to
the red lateritic strip of Travancore. In West Africa the geographical
distribution of the erythrism has still to be worked out since eggs are
known only from Onitsha Province. It will be observed that the Onitsha
Province eggs are not exclusively erythristic. One clutch out of the eight
was olive-clay coloured, and like the other.clutches it was laid on red ground.

__ Measurements: Average of twenty-seven eggs 36.3 x 26.7: max. 40.5 x
26.8 and 36.8 x 28; min. 33.8 x 25.8 and 35.3 x 25.5 mm.

The incubation periad of one clutch was at least twenty-four days. The
nest contained four eggs when discovered on 21st January and two of the
eggs hatched on 14th February. Incubation probably begins with the first
egg laid, for differences in incubation in the eggs of a clutch are sometimes
apparent on blowing. In five cases the clutch was four, in two cases three,
and in one case two. Examination of the ovary of the parent of the clutch
of two indicated that the clutch was a full one. ,

The young in down behave like Lapwings, usually squatting motionless,
but capable of running at great speed. The dark patch on their occiput
is a field mark.

Description of female nestling in down: Upperparts variegated buff and
dark brown; dark patch on occiput; white patch on nape. Below—chin

+ The L. malabarica sets are from the Stuart Baker collection and are exhibited with
_ the kind permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. The birds themselves are

strikingly similar in colour and colour pattern but the similarity may be more apparent
than real for Sharpe placed them in different sub-families on the character of the
scutellation of the tarsus.

Vol. 76 104 | 1956

and throat greyish white; breast and belly white; brown pectoral band. A —
full description is not possible because in places the fresh juvenile feathers
are replacing the down. Iris brown; eye wattle creamy yellow and already
well formed; bill blackish; feet fleshy brown. The diagnostic red chest |
feathers are just sprouting from their sheaths.

As was shown by dissection of ten stomachs the food of both adults and
young consisted of insects. One adult had also taken grit.

Taxonomic Notes on Cinnyris chloropygius (Jardine)

by Dr. WILLIAM SERLE
Received 7th January, 1956

In Cinnyris chloropygius (Jardine) the only character useful for racial
diagnosis is the colour of the belly in the adult male, and even this character
is to be employed with caution because the colour of the belly changes as
the brightly coloured feather tips are lost by wear and the duller feather
bases are exposed. The differences in size over the whole range of the
species are slight and the size transitions between different populations are
gradual. The size, estimated in terms of wing and culmen length is
greatest in the eastern and least in the western part of the range.

There is no difficulty in recognising the pale olive-bellied C. c. kempi
Ogilvie-Grant, type locality Bo, Sierra Leone, and with this race I would
place all examples from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast,
and south-western Nigeria.

Nor is there difficulty in recognising the dark-bellied C.c. orphogaster
Reichenow, type locality Bukoba, Tanganyika Territory, and with this race
I would place all examples from Uganda, south-western Sudan, Belgian
Congo west to the Kasai, and north-east Angola.

The type of C.c. chloropygius is somewhat worn and has a dull olive
belly. It is intermediate in colour between kempi and orphogaster. Its
wing measures 45mm. The determination of the type locality of chloro-—
pygius is of some importance. ‘‘Niger River’’ is the locality given by
Bannerman in the Rey. Zool. Bot. Afr., 1921, p. 330. From a perusal of
Allen and Thomson’s Narrative of the River Niger Expedition, (1848),
and of Jardine’s remarks in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. x, p.188, 1842, I am of
the opinion that the type, which was obtained by Dr. Stanger with Captain
Trotter’s party on the “Albert,” almost certainly came from the Lower
Niger, and most probably from Aboh.

Aboh, 5° 33’ N., 6° 32’ E. may therefore be designated as the restricted
type locality.

With C.c. chloropygius | would place all examples from Nigeria east of
the Niger, British and French Cameroons, Fernando Po, Gaboon, and
north-west Angola. C.c. luhderi Reichenow, type locality Bipindi, French
Cameroons, I believe to be a synonym of chloropygius. Reichenow surely
could not have had the type of chloropygius for comparison when he
described his /uhderi, for the chloropygius type is easily separated from the iy
Gold Coast birds with which he united it. (Orn. Monats. 1899, p.169).

Of the other described races, C.c. ogilvie-granti (Bannerman) and C.caam
insularis Reichenow are regarded as synonyms of chloropygius, and C.c. —

,
De

1956 105 Vol. 76

_uellensis Reichenow as a synonym of orphogaster. I have seen no example

of C.c. bineschensis Neumann type locality Binescho, south-western
Abyssinia, said by its describer (Orn. Monats. 1903, p.185) to be darker on
the belly than orphogaster.

A good series from the whole range, including the types of C.c. kempi
and C.c. chloropygius, was examined at the British Museum. Appended
are the wing and culmen measurements of 129 adult males grouped

-geographically.*

Nineteen from Sierra Leone.—Wing 45-48 (47); bill 16-17.

Five from Liberia and Ivory Coast.—Wing 45-48; bill 16-18.

Seventeen from Gold Coast and south-western Nigeria. ape 45-48
(47); bill 16-18.

Six from Eastern Nigeria.—Wing 46-48; bill 18-19.

Forty-eight from British and French Cameroons.—Wing 46-51 (49);
bill 17-20 (18).

Four from Fernando Po.—Wing 47-S0; bill 16-19.

Nine from Gaboon and north-western Angola.—Wing 48-53 (50); bill
17-18.

Twenty-one from north-eastern Angola, Belgian Congo, south-western
Sudan, and Uganda.—Wing 50-54 (52); bill 17-19 mm.

On the Genus Coracia Brisson, 1760

by MONSIEUR NoEL MAYAUD
Received 29th December, 1955

The genus Coracia was described by Brisson in his ‘‘Ornithologia’’
T.I, p. 30, 1760, and the type species must be Upupa pyrrhocorax Linné
as very clearly designated by Brisson himself T.II, p. 3 (by tautonimy)
*“Le Coracias Coracia’’ with the very adequate description of the species
named by Linné Upupa pyrrhocorax. The coloured plate No. 38, fig. | is
also a very good painting of that species (Atlas des Planches Enluminées
de Brisson, par Martinet, in the Museum de Paris). It is in exactly the
same manner that the type-designations as such Brisson’s genera as Aquila,
Accipiter, Sula, Uria etc. were made. Brisson’s names of species, not
always being binomial, are not accepted as such, but they can be used
with the description to describe the type species. Brisson has designated
quite rightly the type species of his genus Coracia, and it was Vieillot’s
opinion when he wrote in the Ist edition of Nouveau Dictionnaire
d’Histoire Naturelle, an XI—1803, VI, p. 185: ‘‘Coracias. Corvus graculus
Latham—Brisson en a fait un genre particulier qui ne différe de celui du
Corbeau qu’en ce que le Coracias a le bec un peu courbé en arc...’’
(a good description of the Chough follows). Then Vieillot himself thought
that the genus Coracia Brisson applied to the species named by Latham
Corvus graculus= Upupa pyrrhocorax Linné. To apply the genus Coracia
Brisson to the species Melanoramphus as done by Vieillot (1817) is con-
tradicting the designation of the species made by Brisson (Ornithologia,
II, p. 3-5, 1760) and Vieillot (1803, ut supra).

* These include forty-six skins in my own collection. All measurements are in
millimetres. The brackets indicate mean figures.

Vol. 76 106 1956

A Final Word on the Nomenclature of the Himalayan Goldcrests

by Mr. H. G. DEIGNAN
Received 2nd January, 1956

Since publication of my original note on this subject in the Bulletin
(1954, vol. 74, pp. 103-104), the putative type specimen of Regulus
himalayensis Bonaparte, 1856, has come to light in the collections of the
British Museum and has been critically examined by Dr. Charles Vaurie
and others, who have found that, as of the year 1955, it matches closely,
in colouration, recent specimens from the northwestern Himalayas
(Bulletin, 1955, vol. 75, pp. 99-100).

Vaurie’s affirmation that Gould himself stated that his bird came from
the northwestern Himalayas seems to derive solely from the author’s
enthusiasm for his argument, since reference to Gould’s description leaves
one with a strong impression that Gould had no real knowledge of his
specimen’s provenience. However, since the type is in existence and
apparently belongs with the more western population, I am willing to
accept Dr. Vaurie’s correction.

His concluding paragraphs purporting to show that ‘“‘we can... reject
himalayensis Bonaparte altogether’’ and continue to use Jerdon’s junior
homonym demand more careful analysis. His citation of *‘1931, Report
Eleventh Internatl. Congr. Zool., Padova, 1930, p. 87’’ cannot apply,
since there is no ambiguity. in the fact that a name of 1856 is older than a
name of 1863, and accordingly no difference of opinion whatsoever.
Reference to ‘‘the Conservation Principle adopted by the Fourteenth
International Congress of Zoology at Copenhagen in 1953 (articles 27-29 —
and appendix 2 of the Decisions)’’ will show that ‘‘After considerable
discussion, the Colloquium agreed, by a majority, to recommend the
inclusion of a provision recognising the Principle of Conservation to a —
limited extent’’. In Appendix 2 appear four draft proposals to this end,
but ‘‘it was unfortunately found impossible to secure agreement upon any ~
of these drafts’’.

The phrase ‘‘to a limited extent’’ is, in my view, of highest importance.
The Principle of Conservation was inspired by the awkward effects. of
certain nomenclatorial changes on such biological disciplines as parasi-
tology, medicine, genetics, et a/., and in certain cases a cogent argument
might be advanced for nomina conservanda. In the case of the Himalayan
goldcrests, however, we are dealing with birds so rare and so seldom
discussed that one may wonder whether as many as a dozen living biolo- —
gists, all professional ornithologists, could have the /east interest in their
subspecific names, and of them only one or two could possibly see ~
confusion in the admission that himalayensis Bonaparte, 1856, is an older
name than himalayensis Jerdon, 1863. |

For the benefit of those ornithologists who still adhere to the basic
Article 25 of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature, | now
restrict the type locality of Regulus himalayensis Bonaparte, Comptes
Rendus Acad. Sci. (Paris), tome 42, No. 17, session of 28th April, 1856,
p. 767 (‘‘les monts Himalaya’’), to Kotgarh in the Simla Hill States. As
a result of this action, Regulus Himalayensis Jerdon, 1863, and Regulus
regulus salimalii Deignan, 1954, will become its absolute synonyms,

1956 | 107 | Vol. 76

Remarks on the Nidification of the Kenya Hill Chat
Pinarochroa sordida ernesti Sharpe

by CAPT. CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 19th January, 1956

There is one published record (Praed and Grant, 11, 1955, p. 307) of the
nest and eggs of this race of P. sordida and those now to be described
were collected by the well-known East African naturalist Raymond Hook
whose knowledge of the wild life of Mount Kenya is unrivalled. Unfor-
tunately, both eggs are fragmentary; they were taken on 6th September
1943 from a deserted nest found at 13,500 feet on Mount Kenya. One of the
eggs measured approx. 23.0 x 16.5mm. Incolour pale blue and seemingly
immaculate, there are a few almost imperceptible pale reddish or rufous
secondary markings. The nest was in a cavity in a giant groundsel
(Senecio), and Hook described it as ‘‘ordinary chat type of nest’’. The
nest, sent to me, was rather large and untidy and in situ may have measured
overall about 118 x 105 mm., with an overall depth of some 56 mm., the
egg cup being about 68 mm. diameter and probably some 18 mm. deep.
Composed mainly of very fine dead grass, forming a thick foundation,
mixed with a few small pieces of green moss and some soft seed down, and
thickly felted with lumps of what appeared to be woolly hyrax fur. In the
lining were a few feathers, some of Mackinder’s Owl Bubo capensis
mackinderi Sharpe—it was Mackinder who also discovered this race of
Hill Chat on Mount Kenya in 1899—and other white fluffy ones which
may be of this owl, the Lammergeyer Gypaétus barbatus meridionalis
Keys. and Blas., or the Secretary Bird Sagittarius serpentarius Miller, one
of the last named being seen not far from the nest site. It may sound a
strange record for the plains loving Secretary Bird to be found at 13,500
feet, but I have also come across it at 10,000 feet in Kenya on the Cheran-
gani Hills to the east of Mount Elgon.

On Two Large Examples of Plautus alle (L.) from Gt. Britain

by Mr. ALFRED HAZELWOOD AND MR. ERIC GORTON
Received I5th February, 1956

Among a series of Plautus alle (L.) picked up dead from the shores of
Shetland and now in the Bolton Museum, there are two whose wing length |
is considerably in excess of the others.

Both are 9° with measurements as follows

1. Lerwick, Shetland, 5-1-1954, wing (worn) 132 mm., bill 15 mm
(this bird apparently first winter).

2. Lerwick, Shetland 19-1-1956, wing 135 mm., bill 15.5 mm.

The bills of both are more massive in appearance than in other examples
and it seems reasonable to assign them to P. a. polaris (Stenhouse)
hitherto unrecorded from Great Britain.

We are indebted to Mr. S. Bruce and Mrs. L. Gray of Lerwick for their

kindness in sending us ‘wrecked’ specimens of this species from time to

time.

Vol. 76 108 1956

South African Kite fishing

by Mr. J. H. BEESLEY
Received 15th February, 1956

In September 1955 my wife and I were watching a pair of Kites, M.
migrans parasitus (Daudin), at Lake Chila, near Abercorn, Northern
Rhodesia, which were flying low over the surface of the water. We then
observed one of the birds drop down to skim the water, lunge with one foot
and bring out a bream about 4 or 5 inches long and fly away with it to a tree.

I do not know whether the fish was a floating dead one, or a live one
swimming near the surface.

Type-locality of Francolinus schlegelii Heuglin

by Rev. F. O. CAVE
Received 24th February, 1956

In the Bull.B.O.C. 68, 1947, pp. 4-5 I gave my reasons why the Bongo
River, the type-locality of Francolinus schlegelii should be considered as the
Bussere River, probably about 15-20 miles upstream from its junction
with the Jur River.

Having lived for the greater part of 1955 in that locality it struck me as
odd that I should never have come across the species, and still odder that I —
could find no native who was acquainted with the bird. They did not
recognise it from its picture, nor did the Ndogo name, ‘‘Mbakpa’’, mean
anything to them. I therefore felt that the Bussere River could not be the
type-locality. |

von Heuglin, who first discovered F. schlegelii, was a member of
Miss Tinné’s party which arrived in the Bahr el Ghazal in 1863. von
Heuglin’s paper for the J.f.0. in which he described F. schlegelii is dated —
April 1863. This appears to be the only occasion on which he referred —
to the Bongo River; at all other times Bongo is referred to as a locality
which seems to have been the locality of Biselli’s seriba.

This seriba is that which was occupied by Miss Tinné and her party in —
1863-64. An account of this expedition appears in ‘“Transactions of the
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire’’ New Series Vol. IV 1864,
pp. 107-148. The relevant pages are pp. 128, 139 and 141 in which there
is a description of how the party arrived at Wau, which is clearly not the
same place as the modern Wau, but was on the banks of the River Ghetti
(or Bahr Wau), as shown on the map facing p. 128. Biselli’s seriba is
clearly shown west of this river.

The location of these places is confirmed by Schweinfurth in his ‘‘Im
Herzen von Africa’’ 1874, in which he shows how he travelled north
westwards from the modern Wau and crossed the River Ghetti, arriving
at ‘Biselli’s subsidiary seriba’ which he states is the same seriba where
Miss Tinné’s party had spent so long. The relevant pages in Schwein-
furths book are pp. 350-355 in Vol. II.

Biselli’s seriba was often referred to as Bongo, and von Heuglin was
clearly there in April 1863. This seriba cannot now be identified either on ~
the ground or on modern maps, but I place the type-locality of F. schlegelii
as ““Bongo’’, Lat. 7. 53 N. and Long. 27. 42 E. Bis

It is clear that von Heuglin was never near the Bussere River which has ©
been wrongly identified as the Babs Rpngo..

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Notices

BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN”’

Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each.
Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological
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Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no
longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes,
Esq., as above.

DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1956
18th September, 16th October, 20th November, | 8th December.

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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

Volume 76 October
No. 7 1956

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1956 109 Vol. 76

BULLETIN
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 76
~ 1 OCT Number 7
PURCHASED Published: Ist October, 1956

The five hundred and forty-ninth meeting was held at the Rembrandt
Hotel, South Kensington, on Tuesday, 18th September, 1956, following a
dinner at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED

Members present: 25; Guests 5; Total 30.

Mr. Mackworth-Praed opened his first meeting from the Chair by
thanking the Club for doing him the honour of electing him Chairman.

The Late Mr. F. J. F. Barrington

The Chairman announced with deep regret the death of Mr. F. J. F.
Barrington, M.S., F.R.C.S., a vice-chairman of the Club from 1943-45.
Mr. Barrington has left the Club £1,000, duty free, in his Will. This most
handsome legacy has almost doubled the finances of the Club. It is to
be treated as capital and will be designated the ‘‘Barrington Fund,’’ in
order to perpetuate the name of our benefactor. The annual income from
the ‘‘Barrington Fund’’ will be approximately £50.

Road Casualties in Birds

Mr. G. Finnis read a paper on this subject, describing his work to’
date on an inquiry he is undertaking. An interesting discussion took place
and an account will appear in a subsequent BULLETIN.

An Albino Red-necked Grebe

Mr. B. L. Sage exhibited three photographs of an almost completely
albinistic Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena (Boddaert). It was found
exhausted in Switzerland in October 1955 and was photographed by
Dr. A. Schifferli, before being released. This bird has been recorded in the
Ornithologische Beobachter, vol. 53, pp. 47—8; 1956.

Vol. 76 110 1956

A Memorandum on the Name Corvus monedula
spermologus Vieillot

by Dr. JAMeEs M. HARRISON, CAPT. C. H. B. GRANT and Mr. H. G.
DEIGNAN
Received Ist June, 1956

This note must be regarded as mainly historical, but it also seeks to
remove any doubts concerning the nomenclatorial validity of the name
C.m. spermologus for the western populations of Corvus monedula Linnaeus,
and to establish it finally as the correct and proper name.

The problems and uncertainties involved are not new and have indeed
been exhaustively investigated in two very informative communications
by Noél Mayaud.?» 2

In order to comprehend the issues it is necessary to review briefly the
nomenclatorial history of the name C. spermologus. Frisch,® in 1734
to 1763, figured a young Jackdaw in his Plate 68 and called it the “‘chouc’’.
The representation given therein being undoubtedly an immature example
of C. monedula Linneaus. This work, being non-binomial gave Vieillot
the right to introduce the name ‘‘spermologus’’ properly into nomen-
clature in any way he so desired, and the date of its introduction into
nomenclature was 1817.

At this early date a confusion arose concerning the distinction as
species, between the ‘‘choucas’’, i.e. the adult of Corvus monedula and the
‘‘chouc’’ or immature of that species, and moreover it is to be noted that
both Frisch and Vieillot used both these vernacular names. The error
thus started, was perpetuated by the uncritical copying from author to
author of vague descriptions, and by the persistent efforts, particularly by
Vieillot to substantiate as distinct species the adult and young of C.
monedula.

Briefly the chronological o1der of this chain of errors and misconcep-
tions is as follows: in 1760 Brisson* copied Frisch, but the description he
gave was that of Frisch’s Plate and not that of Frisch’s description—
Brisson’s so-called, ‘‘choucas noir’’. He also affirmed that the species
was represented in Réaumur’s private collection.

In 1817 Vieillot® copied from Brisson word for word, and as the con-
troversy raged concerning the matter of two different species, i.e. the
‘‘choucas’’ (adult from Normandy, Paris and Lorraine), and the ‘‘chouc’”’
(immature from the ‘‘southern provinces’’), Vieillot, in order to strengthen
his case insisted on a series of differences in size and structure between
the two. Writing in 1823, Vieillot® remarks ‘‘Quoique Frisch, Brisson et
Buffon aient presenté cet oiseau (i.e. the chouc) comme une espéce
distincte de cet du choucas, les ornithologistes modernes le donnent pour
une de ses varietés. Sicomme nous, ils (i.e. the ‘‘ornithologistes modernes’”’
avoient vu le chouc en nature qui est au museum d histoire naturelle nous
croyons qu’ils changeroient de sentiment.’’ This seems to imply that
Vieillot had seen a specimen of some kind in the Museum d Histoire
Naturelle, though it cannot be assumed that it was the specimen which
now bears Wagler’s label, nor indeed necessarily the one which the latter
saw in 1827. This point we shall see is emphasized by Mayaud (loc. cit.).
Further in the same communication Vieillot proceeds to detail a number

1956 | 11 Vol. 76

of differences of size and structure to substantiate his view that the ‘‘chouc’’
and ‘‘choucas’’ were different species.

It is at about this time that any suggestion of a possible Type of C.
spermologus finds mention. However in 1840 Selys-Longchamps examined
the specimen in the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, and declared it to be an
American Corvus, and from that date to the present time, we have had the
absurd situation of an example of Corvus ossifragus Wilson masquerading
as the Type of Corvus monedula Linnaeus of western Europe! The existence
and identification of this specimen as C.ossifragus, in the Paris Museum,
has been kindly confirmed for us by Professor Berlioz (in litt. 6.[X.54),
bearing as it does the label ‘‘Corvus spermologus Wag. Typ. Vieillot.’’
That such a fantastic state of affairs cannot be allowed to stand is obvious.

Mayaud,? (loc.cit.) writes: ‘“Comme on ne pouvait savoir quil était le
type de Brisson ni le type de Vieillot, mais qu’il y avait de grandes
vraissemblances qu’il ne fut pas un choucas, et qu’au surplus Vieillot av-
ait voulu décrire un oiseau autre que le choucas, j’avais rejeté la validité
du nom spermologus pour le choucas, car il ne pouvait s’appliquer
surement a un choucas et était le resultat de toute une serie d’erreurs.”’

In 1938-39, Kleiner’? (Keve) revised the Jackdaws of the Palaearctic
Region and upheld the name C.m.spermologus for the western populations
of Europe, although using C.m.turrium (Brehm 1831) for the birds of
central Europe. However, by most authorities C.m.turrium is placed as a
synonym of C.m.spermologus.

Mayaud’s researches, already referred to, have brought to light the
confusion which existed earlier concerning the adult and young of
C.monedula as distinct species, and this point needs little further emphasis
except to stress, as already stated, that Frisch and Vieillot both referred to
the ‘‘chouc’’ and ‘‘choucas’’. The former was undoubtedly referring to
German Jackdaws, while Vieillot, although still endeavouring to maintain
a specific difference between the ‘‘chouc’’ from southern France and the
‘‘choucas’’, referred to the ‘‘chouc’’ of Frisch and adopted C.spermologus
from Frisch’s work. He thus substantiated the identity of both his own
and Frisch’s ‘‘choucs’’ as Jackdaws beyond any shadow of doubt.
His intention is further confirmed by his reference to Frisch’ Plate 68,
which is clearly that of a young Jackdaw. We may therefore categorically
assert that both these authors were referring to Jackdaws, the one no
doubt to German birds, the other, Vieillot, to birds from the south of France.

At the time when he published the /nventaire des Oiseaux de France (1936)
Mayaud® was obviously not entirely at ease, since he used the name
C.m.turrium (Brehm), reverting subsequently however to C.m.spermologus.
Vieillot in his Liste des Oiseaux de France (1953), which name that author
now firmly, and quite correctly, upholds.

What remedies are open to us in resolving the age-long problem?
Firstly, the so-called Type, labelled as it is “‘Corvus spermologus Wag.
Typ. Vieillot’’, must be discarded as it cannot stand since it is not a
European Jackdaw. Secondly, what evidence can we adduce to validate
the name C.m.spermologus? Vieillot’s description alone, as rightly pointed
out by Mayaud, is in itself not sufficient. However, Vieillot purposefully
and directly refers to Frisch’s ‘‘chouc’’ and to Frisch’s Plate 68, and this
latter, as anyone can easily verify for himself, depicts a young Jackdaw.

Vol. 76 112 1956

It is our considered opinion that this fact alone so unquestionably
supports Vieillot’s description as to establish beyond dispute that C.m.
spermologus is the correct name for the Jackdaws of France, with as a
restricted type locality the Bordeaux district of France. This being the
most southerly of the places named by Vieillot would, it is believed, be
the best to select as the Terra Typica.

It has been suggested that the matter could be resolved by the collecting
of a Neo-Type in the Bordeaux or Tours districts. However, it is not all
authorities who recognize this practice, and it has been thought preferable
therefore that our researches should seek to establish the name on the
antecedent and relevant literature, and by reference to the original
description and the references contained therein, to substantiate the
validity of the name Corvus monedula spermologus Vieillot.

We would express our grateful appreciations for the help and co-opera-
tion received from Professor Berlioz and M. Noél Mayaud.

References :
1 Mayaud, Noél, Notes et Remarques sur quelques Corvidae, Alauda, 1933, pp. 345
—354.

2 Mayaud, Noel, Sur la validité de l’appellation Corvus spermologus Vieillot. Soc.
Linn. de Lyon, 1941, pp. 78-80. '

3 Frisch, J. L., Vors. der Vog. Deutsch, 1734-1763.

4 Brisson, O. M. Ornith., 2, 24, 1760.

5 Vieillot, L. J. P., Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., 1817, VIII, p. 40.

6 Vieillot, L. J. P., Tab. Ency. Meth. des Trois Regnés Natur. Ornith. 2, 1823, p. 881.

7 Kleiner, A. (Keve), The Jackdaws of the Palaearctic Region, Bull. B.O.C., 1938-39,
UX spr, ?

8 Mayaud, Noél, Heim de Balsac, H., Jouard, H., Inventaire des Oiseaux de France,
Soc. d’Etude Ornith., 1936, p. 100.

® Mayaud, Noél, Liste des Oiseaux de France, Alauda, 1933, I, p. 62.

The **First Reviser’’ and the name of the Philippine Pelican
by CAPTAIN C. H. B. GRANT

Received 12thiMay, 1956

Dr. Amadon in Bull. B.O.C. 75, p. 21, 1955, desires to preserve
Pelecanus philippensis Gmelin, for the Philippine Pelican, and has invoked
the Copenhagen proposals to this end. I have suggested (Bull. B.O.C. 74,
p. 85, 1954) that Pelecanus roseus Gmelin should be considered as indeter-
minate, as is intimated by Chapin and Amadon in Ostrich, p. 123, 1952.
Gmelin’s description is: Rosy Pelican, throat pouched, bill and feet black,
around eye bare, pouch yellow; and of his Pelecanus manillensis is: Dusky
Pelican, throat pouched, as pink as the neighbouring one, breeds on the
ground, flesh rank. Sonnerat, Voy. N. Guinea, p. 91, states that the bird
on pl. 53, is wholly brown, which is not so in young Philippine Pelicans,
nor has the adult or young black bills and feet. The pouch is not yellow
in the Philippine Pelican at any age, and Sonnerat’s description of both
his ‘‘Pelican brown’’ and ‘‘Pelican rose’’ gives the pouch as yellow, and
so does Gmelin under his P.roseus, It appears certain that Gmelin based

-
—-
“i
>

1956 113 | Vol. 76

his descriptions on Sonnerat and therefore Sonnerat’s plates are the types.

I feel sure that if pls. 53 and 54 were submitted to ornithologists, without
the captions or text, they would undoubtedly be considered as specifically
unidentifiable. I think we should now agree that both Pelecanus roseus
Gmelin, and Pelecanus manillensis Gmelin, be considered as indeterminate
until such a time (if ever) Pelicans agreeing with Sonnerat’s plates and
descriptions and Gmelin’s descriptions are known to occur in the
Philippines.

Pelecanus philippensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 2, p. 571, 1789: Philippine
Islands, based on Brisson, Orn. 6, p. 527, No. 3, plate 46, would be the
next available valid scientific name. Brisson’s plate 46 is an excellent
figure of the Philippine Pelican, and was presumably drawn from a specimen
in the collection of M.l’Abbé Aubry. In the event of this specimen being
no longer in existence plate 46 in Brisson would be the type.

Dr. Amadon sees no reason why Roseate Pelicans ({ presume he refers
to Pelecanus onocratatus Linnaeus), could not occasionally wander to the
Philippines. At present I believe there is no such record. therefore this can
hardly be brought forward as an argument. Surely Bonaparte’s action in
placing the names in a different order to that given by Gmelin does not
mean that he has revised these names.

Systematic ornithologists have agreed that the Ist January, 1758, is the
starting date of binominal nomenclature, and if they adhere to that date
there can be no such term as ‘‘nomina conservanda’’. An author who
believes in “‘nomina conservanda’’ does not agree that Ist January, 1758,
is the starting date of scientific nomenclature and an author who agrees
with that date cannot believe in ‘‘nomina conservanda’’. Priority is
adherence to this date and yet some still consider that they can adopt
synonyms, when surely they must know that an earlier valid name is bound
sooner or later to be adopted. When one valid scientific name is placed
before another valid scientific name (‘“page and line priority’’) then the
former has, without question or argument, been “‘first introduced’’.
Because a name is well known and has been in ‘‘general use’’, is no excuse
for not adopting an earlier valid name, and an ‘‘established name’ is that
scientific name first introduced properly into nomenclature after Ist
January, 1758.

No systematic ornithologist takes a delight in changing scientific names,
but unless Ist January, 1758, is strictly adhered to there is no hope that
all ornithologists will be using the same specific or racial name, and only
when all the earliest valid scientific names (generic, specific and racial)
have come into general use can it be said that finality has been attained. »
Thanks to the researches of the many, there can be now only a few to
discover, and when they are they should be adopted forthwith.

Systematic ornithologists are interested in, but not necessarily guided
by, the nomenclatorial procedure of other branches of zoology, and
certainly not the procedure in botany, and those who consider that the Ist
January, 1758, is the starting date of ornithological nomenclature need
need not heed, nor fear, the increasingly insistent clamour of other
biologists.

Nore—Other recent references to the name of the Philippine Pelican are Grant and
Praed, Bull. B.O.C., 58, p. 188, 1933, and Grant and Praed, Bull. B.O.C. 55, p. 63. 1934.

Vol. 76 114 1956

Breeding Tactics of the two Honey-Guides—Jndicator indicator
(Sparrman) and Indicator minor Stephens

by Mr. HuGH A. ROBERTS
Received Ist May, 1956

The Greater or Black-throated Honey-Guide, /ndicator indicator, and
the Lesser Honey-Guide, Jndicator minor, are found commonly on
Olifantsburg Farm in the Rustenburg District of the Transvaal, in South
Africa. The Scaly-throated Honey-Guide, /ndicator variegatus Lesson,
also occurs but is rare. The first two seem to prefer the Black-collared
Barbet. Lybius torquatus (Dumont) and the Pied Barbet, Lybius leucomelas
(Bodd.) as hosts. More than once the nestlings of these hosts, evidently
ejected by a young Honey-Guide, have been found on the ground below
a Barbet’s nest-hole.

In order to lay the eggs in the Barbet’s nest both the Greater and Lesser
Honey-Guides adopt aggressive tactics to get a pair of Barbets away from
their nest site. After annoying the § Barbet and tiring him out—a pro-
ceeding which takes at least an hour and may last for nearly two days—
the Honey-Guide pair become very bold. Usually the 2 Barbet remains in
the entrance of the nest-hole throughout the initial baiting, but later is also
drawn into the chase when the Honey-Guides fly around within a few feet
of the nest hole. Then follows a mad rush by the 2 Barbet, out of the hole
and back again, this performance being repeated until she becomes rather
exhausted. At this stage the 9 Honey-Guide conceals herself nearby, and
as soon as both Barbets pursue the increasingly bold ¢ Honey-Guide, the
@ Honey-Guide makes a dash for the hole. Usually a short lull among the
contestants now follows which enables the 2 Honey-Guide to deposit her
egg. Should the Barbets try and return too soon, the ¢ Honey-Guide at
once takes action to lure them away.

No 2 Honey-Guide has ever been seen carrying an egg. In the Rusten-
burg District the breeding season of these Barbets and Honey-Guides is
from September to January.

On the Geographical Variation in Bill Size of Parus afer in
Relation to Habitat

by Mr. MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN
Received 2nd December, 1955

Vincent, Check List of the Birds of South Africa, retained the use of
Parus afer parvirostris Shelley, with type locality Salisbury, though it had
correctly been placed in the synonymy of P.a.griseveivetris by Grant and
Mackworth-Praed in BULL B.O.C. 63, 1942, p. 43, as the material available
to me confirms; though the Grey Tit population inhabiting Mashonaland
is isolated from those in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in being
absent from the low-lying country of the Zambesi valley below 2,500ft.,
and from similar levels in the Sabi-Limpopo drainage.

In northern Mashonaland, as in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland,
they are almost exclusively inhabitants of the better developed Brachystegia

:

— 1956 115 | Vol. 76

- woodland formations where the trees tend to form a canopy. Birds from

this habitat have fine pointed bills with a culmen length of 11-12 mm. and
a bill depth of 5-6 mm. Southward on the plateau, however, and out of
the main heavy Brachystegia belt in the Umvuma and Gwelo areas of the
Midlands, there is a quick transition from a thin to a heavy billed form,
with culmen 12-14 mm., and a bill depth of 6-7.5 mm. These birds are
wholly inhabitants of acacia thorn-veld woodland and in plumage charac-
ters are intermediate P.a.griseiventris 2 P.a.cinerascens, which latter race
entirely dominates in the thorn-veld areas of Matabeleland. The rapid
change to the southward from griseiventris to cinerascens is apparently due
to each race being specialized to a definite habitat, with little ifany tendency
to occur in areas that are ecologically unsuitable, and that well-developed
Brachystegia is never found in direct proximity to thorn veld, the inter-
mediate vegetation being either a more scrubby type of woodland that is
unsuited to griseiventris or by a more park-like wooded grassland as in
much of the Midlands, where these Tits are either very sparse or almost
absent.

As series of these birds are remarkably constant from any given area,
it is worth drawing attention to a single male from the Inyanga highlands,
taken by the author from an association of Acacia abyssinica at 6,000ft.
In colour characters it is intermediate griseiventris 2 cinerascens, and in
having a stout bill: culmen length 13 mm., depth 7mm. This points to
the possibility of their being a dark, heavy billed form in the Inyanga
highlands and possibly elsewhere in the Eastern Districts, but at present
no other material is available from there.

Nore.—This note has been prepared with the help of the fine material —
from both the Rhodesias in the National Museum at Bulawayo.

The South African Races of Cossypha natalensis Smith, with
the Description of a new Race from Southern Mozambique

by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY

Received 9th December, 1955

The Natal Robin-chat Cossypha natalensis Smith, 1840: Durban, Natal,
a shy inhabitant of both lowland and highland evergreen forest and dense
cover, ranges from the eastern districts of the Cape Province and Natal
northwards in the east to Kenya Colony, southern Somalia, Uganda, .
south-western Abyssinia and the southern Sudan, and in the west to
Angola, the Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa and the Cameroons.
Despite its enormous range the amount of research material from any one
locality available to workers is limited, due in part to the species’ shyness
and also to the fact that it has a very patchy distribution and is nowhere

_ truly numerous. Mearns, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 1xi,

No. 20, 1913, p. 2, working with very limited comparative material,
described the races C.n.intensa Mearns from Taveta and C.n.garguensis
Mearns from Mt. Gargues (Uraguess), Matthews Range, Kenya Colony,
separating them from the nominate subspecies of the south on somewhat
nebulous colour characters. Van Someren, writing in the Novitates

Vol. 76 116 1956

Zoologicae, vol. xxix, 1922, p. 239, states that no races are recognizable,
while Friedmann, Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoélogy,
vol. Ixxxi, No. I, 1937, p. 251, synonymizes C.n.intensa with C.n.natalensis
and suggests that C.n. garguensis may be valid, being paler and smaller.
In a short paper in the Durban Museum Novitates, vol: tv,sy 1952;-pp:
14-17, I have shown that the tropical populations of the species differ
significantly from those of the eastern Cape, Natal, Zululand, etc., in

having the top of the head russet or cinnamon and not dark ‘hyioocits
brown, and that at least four races should perhaps be recognized. In this
Same paper a new race from Nyasaland, C.n.hylophona Clancey : Chinteche,
was described. However, in Spite of this work on the clearly demonstrable
polytypic variation, the species is treated binominally in all recent standard
works on birds of the Ethiopian region.

18° 26° 34°

ce ati : I"

24°

: ce

12° CAPE TOWN PORT ELIZABETH

= C.n. natalensis S C.n. egregior &a C.n. hylophona

Map showing the localities from which specimens of the three southern races of the
Natal Robin-chat C.natalensis have been examined.

EAST LONDON

34° 42°

Since studying this species in 1951 (report published in March, 1952)
further material has become available from many parts of South Africa,
and it is now possible for me to deal definitively with the question of
geographical variation in the austral populations. Through the courteous
co-operation of the Directors of the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, the
Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, and the Museu Dr. Alvaro de Castro,

IWS o

1956 117 | Vol. 76

Lourengo Marques, I have recently been able to assemble and study a
series of over eighty specimens from south-eastern Africa. I find that
individual variation is quite circumscribed and that three well-defined races
of this robin-chat can be conveniently recognized from the South African
sub-continent.

C.n.natalensis, based on a bird collected near Port Natal, i.e., Durban,
Natal, is quite numerous in its type-locality and throughout most of the
coastal districts of Natal. Of the topotypical populations a good series of
specimens is available for research purposes, and study of this material
shows that Natal birds are richly coloured ventrally and have the head-top
dark olivaceous brown. Other populations agreeing with those of Natal
occur in coastal Pondoland to the south and in Zululand and extreme
southern Portuguese East Africa (Loureng¢o Marques and Lebombo Moun-
tains) to the north. The nominate race is constant within the geographical

limits defined, the individual variation observed being restricted to slight

differences in the intensity of the orange-russet of the ventral surfaces, while
birds in abraded dress tend to be duller and less yellowish on the under-
parts and paler on the crown than newly moulted examples.

To the north of the range of C.n.natalensis, in the sandy, flat savanna
country of Portuguese East Africa and adjacent areas, occur interesting

populations in which the under-parts of the birds are much duller and

paler, less yellowish, and the dorsal surfaces lack much of the rich pig-
mentation of Natal topotypes. Such birds, however, resemble those of
Natal in the dark colouration of their head-tops. Specimens showing such
criteria have been examined from several localities in Sul do Save,
southern Portuguese East Africa, and from Mariepskop in the eastern
Transvaal. How far north the form ranges is not known at the present
time, but breeding examples collected by P. A. Sheppard at Mzimbiti and
Beira are referable to the red-headed populations to be discussed later in
this communication. [ am of the opinion that the pale coloured popula-
tions of southern Portuguese East Africa exhibit differences occasioned
by their residence in a markedly different habitat and appreciably drier
and less humid climate than those of Natal, and thereby warrant sub-
specific segregation. They are formally described as a new race,

_C.n.egregior mihi, below.

In the highland evergreen forests of eastern Mashonaland, Southern
Rhodesia, and the adjacent highland districts of Portuguese East Africa

occur birds which differ significantly from the two races already considered.

,

In the colouration of the ventral surfaces they most closely resemble
C.n.natalensis, but from both this race and C.n.egregior they are immedi-

ately separable by having the crown of the head russet or cinnamon, not

dark olivaceous brown. These populations, as well as those of lower
Zambesia, are referable to the race recently described from the highlands
of Nyasaland as C.n.hylophona, the northern limits of the range of which
are still not clear owing to the absence of comparative material from many

parts of equatorial Africa. It is believed that C.n.hylophona represents the
_ species throughout most of its central African range, being replaced in the

coastal districts of Kenya Colony and adjacent areas by C.n.intensa, a
race which differs from it in having a more robust and arched bill and in
being more saturated ventrally. The status of C.n.garguensis, still only

Vol. 76 118 1956

known from the unique Type, can scarcely be discussed here in the con-
tinued absence of adequate material. It is described as being paler and
smaller than C.n.intensa and C.n.natalensis, and is believed to be restricted
to the Matthews Range in northern Kenya Colony.

The present monotypic treatment of C.natalensis is not in accordance
with the scientific facts, and it is now believed that geographical variation
is reasonably well developed in the species. Resulting from this study,
three races can be conveniently recognized from within South Africa sub-
continental limits. Further study and collecting of the more northerly
populations are clearly required before an accurate assessment of the
gamut of sub specific variation can be made. Certainly five, and perhaps
even six, races will ultimately require to be acknowledged in our taxonomic
arrangement of the species.

In the ensuing list of the South African races of C.natalensis | have
defined the coronal and ventral colours of the forms concerned by means
of the system perfected by C. and J. Villalobos, Colour Atlas, Buenos Aires,
1947, for the benefit of workers with limited comparative material. The
nomenclature, characters and ranges of the three races are as follows:

1. Cossypha natalensis natalensis Smith

Cossypha natalensis Smith, Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa,
Aves, 1840, pl. Ix (and text): near Port Natal, i.e. Durban, Natal, South
Africa.

Top of head dark olivaceous brown (about 0—2-9°); nape and centre of
mantle dull russet suffused olivaceous; rump similar; scapulars dark blue-
grey. Whole of under surface rich orange-russet, darkest on breast and
flanks (about 0-10-12°).

Wings 3¢ 91-96, 29 84-93, bills (from skull) 17.5—20, tails ¢ 76-81,
99 69-77.5 mm.

(Fifty-six specimens examined)

Range: The coastal areas of Pondoland, eastern Cape Province, Natal —
and Zululand (mainly in the coastal districts), and the extreme south of —
Portuguese East Africa in the Lebombo Mountains and the adjacent —
littoral (Lourengco Marques).

2. Cossypha natalensis egregior, subsp.nov.

Similar to C.n.natalensis but duller and less richly coloured on the upper
parts, and markedly paler and duller, less deep rich orange-russet, ventrally
(about 0-10-10°). The throat is particularly pale.

Wings 33 90.5, 91.5, 99 83.5-88, bills (from skull) 18-20, tails f¢ 76.5,
77, 92. 71.5-75 mm.

(Twelve specimens examined)

Type: $ adult. Near Manhica, Sul do Save, southern Portuguese
East Africa. Collected by the Durban Museum Expedition. 16 September,
1955. In the Durban Museum.

Range: Known only from Sul do Save, southern Portuguese East
Africa, in areas immediately to the north of the range of the nominate race,
and in adjacent districts of the eastern Transvaal (Mariepskop) and
Southern Rhodesia. Found in thickets in park-like savanna country with
a very sandy soil.

1956 119 Vol. 76

3. Cossypha natalensis hylophona Clancey

Cossypha natalensis hylophona Clancey, Durban Museum Novitates,
vol. iv, 1, 1952, p. 15: Chinteche, Nyasaland.

Differs from C.n.natalensis and C.n.egregior in having the head-top
russet or cinnamon (about 00S—5—10°), and in exhibiting brighter and more
extensive areas of russet on the lower nape and centre of the back; rump
and upper tail-coverts redder. Ventrally still more richly coloured than
C.n.natalensis (about 0-9-12°).

Wings gg 92-95, 92 86.5-92.5, bills (from skull) 17-20, tails g¢ 72-81.5,
2° 69-73.5 mm.

(Sixteen specimens examined)

Range: The highland evergreen forests of eastern Mashonaland,
Southern Rhodesia, and adjacent highland districts of Portuguese East
Africa (Macequece) and to the coast at Beira and Mzimbiti. Extralimitally
in the highland evergreen forests of Nyasaland, northern Portuguese East
Africa and southern Tanganyika Territory. The populations of this
robin-chat occurring in Angola, French Equatorial Africa, the Cameroons,
the Belgian Congo, the southern Sudan, south-western Abyssinia, etc.,
are closely allied to C.n.hylophona, but require further study to determine
their correct relationship. Replaced in the Matthews Range, northern

Kenya Colony, by C.n.garguensis, and in the coastal districts of East
Africa by C.n.intensa.

Note.—-The species is not generally recorded as occurring in Northern
Rhodesia, but there is an adult 3 collected by Wilde on the Machili River,
south-western Northern Rhodesia, on 15th October, 1908, in the Transvaal
Museum. This specimen resembles topotypes of C.n.hylophona but is
rather paler on the upper-parts, the back and rump less reddish.

New Geographical Races of Camaroptera fasciolata and
Batis capensis from Southern Rhodesia

by Mr. ReAy H. N. SMITHERS AND Miss MARY PATERSON
Received 26th March, 1956

Camaroptera fasciolata irwini new race

_ Description: Differs from C.f-fasciolata (Smith) in lacking the buff
colour of the flanks and lower belly, being clear white on the under parts
between the barring. The upper parts distinctively lighter and less russet
than C.f. fasciolata and lacking the olive greyness of C.f.buttoni (White)
and C.f.stierlingi (Reichenow). The upper tail coverts and tail distinctly
less russet than C.f.fasciolata, being intermediate between this and

C.f-buttoni.

Type: N.M. 20381, Male, 31.8.55, Central Estates, Umvuma, collected
by M. P. Stuart Irwin. Taken in bushes and trees growing in rocks in
open grass park-like woodland. ,

Distribution: The whole of Southern Rhodesia excluding the border
area from Beit Bridge to Plumtree in the south-west and west where it is
replaced by the nominate form.

Material examined: Besides the Type the National Museum has a series
of 3 from Central Estates, Umvuma, 5 from West Nicholson, 2 from

VoLiié 120 | 1956

Selukwe, 2 from Tjolotjo and 1 each from Buhera, Umtali; Bembezi,
Kana River, Rutope River Sebungwe, Wankie, and 2 from Kasane,
Bechuanaland Protectorate, adjacent to the Southern Rhodesian border
in the extreme north-west.

Remarks: Material from Beit Bridge, Ingwesi Ranch Syringa, 60 miles
south of Plumtree, is clearly typical as is a series from Francistown, B.P.,
20 miles west of the Southern Rhodesian border. Named after Mr. M. P.
Stuart Irwin of Salisbury, S.R.

Batis capensis kennedyi new race

Description: Generally greyer above, less olive brown than B.c.erythrop-
thalma or B.c.capensis. The russet colour on the wing coverts and edges
of the primaries, the under parts and the grey crown paler than in the other
two forms; the black chest band of the male generally narrower. The wing
of the males averaging longer 65.7 than B.c.erythropthalma 62.7. The
females approximately the same at 62.5.

Occurring commonly with B.molitor in the well wooded slopes on the
sides of granite kopjes in the Matopos area where they form an island
population separated from B.c.erythropthalma of the Eastern Districts and
adjacent areas by a wide belt of ecologically unsuitable country.

Types: Male N.M. 16016; Female N.M. 16012; Mchabezi Valley,
Matopos. 20° 29’S : 28° 464’ E. 2nd May, 1954—Schools Exploration
Society Expedition 1954.

Material examined: Sixteen specimens from the Type locality and
adjacent areas.

Remarks: Named after Major-General Sir John Kennedy, former
Governor of Southern Rhodesia, who drew attention to the presence of
this species in the Matopos in two visual records made in 1950. (Ostrich,
p. 158, December 1951).

Notes on African Lark

by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE
Received 20th February, 1956

Mirafra africana Smith |

I have already published some notes on the races of southern and central
Africa in Bull. B.O.C. 64, pp. 20-21, 1943, and 65, pp. 48-49, 1945.
Additional material since examined enables me to elaborate these notes in
various ways. I am greatly indebted to Mr. R. H. Smithers for the loan of
important material from the National Museum, Bulawayo. :

M.a.africana Smith |

This race represents the southern end of what now emerges as a cline
ranging north to the Zambesi river and to a limited degree beyond. It is”
the largest and darkest population within the cline with wings 95-105 and —
bills from the skull 19-24 mm.

M.a.zuluensis (Roberts)

The study of further material convinces me that this race is much less
satisfactory than was hitherto thought. It is in fact no more than an
intergrade between africana and transvaalensis Hartert, differing from the 2
former in being lighter and from the latter in being generally darker above

1956 | 121 Vol. 76

and overlapping in dimensions with africana. Wing 94-101, bill
18.5-22 mm.
| M.a.transvaalensis Hartert
This name must be used for a complex of populations ranging from the
Transvaal to Southern Rhodesia, the railway strip of Northern Rhodesia
from Livingstone to Mazabuka and Lusaka and with isolated pockets in
Nyasaland, northern Portuguese East Africa and south Tanganyika
Territory. Benson has shown (Ostrich xxi, 1950, pp. 28-29) how birds
from these areas cannot well be subdivided. Variation too slight for
taxonomic recognition is as follows: Transvaal birds are redder above than
many from Southern Rhodesia but Northern Rhodesia birds are again
rather red. The populations from Namwera and Nyasaland and Unangu,
northern Portuguese East Africa run small, wings 87-95 mm. against
| 91-99 in Southern and Northern Rhodesia. Clancey has recently named
|them M.a.isolata. The whole aggregate now listed under transvaalensis
differ from africana in being lighter, redder or pinker above with less heavy
dark streaking and lighter on the belly.

If it were felt that this treatment involves the combining of too many
populations with different characters under a single name, two alternatives
| are possible. To restrict transvaalensis to the redder birds of the Transvaal,
and call the rest zu/uensis might be possible, since the colder and more
| grey brown birds of the more northern localities seem absent from the
| Transvaal. But red birds like the Transvaal population occur in Northern
| Rhodesia, and some red birds occur in southern Portuguese East Africa
, and Southern Rhodesia. Alternatively the birds from Nyasaland and
| south Tanganyika might be separated, leaving the intervening population
| as intermediate between it and transvaalensis. I prefer to keep all as
| transyaalensis at present.

M.a.grisescens Sharpe
Lack of material from the type locality on the border of Southern
| Rhodesia and Bechuanaland has prevented a satisfactory assessment of
| this race. I have now seen birds from Wankie Game Reserve and the type
| locality. They are paler above than transyaalensis, especially due to a loss
| of the red pigments, giving a colder greyer or more frosted appearance.
| These pale birds extend over northern Bechuanaland in populations too
_ ill-defined to warrant taxonomic recognition. The topotypical and Wankie
| birds are slightly redder and browner than Bechuanaland birds, and thus
| slightly influenced by geneflow from Southern Rhodesian transvaalensis.
_ Birds from south of Kachikau to Makarikari are the palest of the series
| before me. Ngamiland birds appear rather dark above due to heavier
| blacker feather centres. It is, however, inadvisable on the material before
| me to recognize ngamiensis (Roberts). In south-west Barotseland (Senanga,
| Nangweshi) there are indications of more definite change. Birds from these
| areas are less frosted above, the mantle being more markedly pink, and
| the head top darker rufous. Beneath they are washed with pale rusty
| which contrasts with the very white bellies of Bechuanaland birds; but
_ here again topotypical grisescens show more rusty below than the birds
| from Bechuanaland. On the whole I prefer not to name them in spite of
| the differences. Both transvaalensis and grisescens are made up of variable

_ populations and uniformity of taxonomic treatment is necessary to avoid
_ inconsistency.

Vol. 76 122 1956 |

M.a.ghanziensis (Roberts) !
I formerly doubted the validity of this form, but am now satisfied that
in western Bechuanaland from Ghanzi to Fort Rietfontein is a very pale”
pinkish race with reduced dark markings above which should be kept
separate.
M.a.pallida Sharpe
The distribution of this race appears to be much wider than was
formerly supposed; I have now seen specimens from Franzfontein and |
Kuruman which agree with the bird at Elephant Vlei. I now believe that ~
M.a.okahandjae White, described by me in 1945 (Bull. B.O.C., 65, p. 48) 7
must be regarded as a synonym of pallida.
M.a.kabalii White
Further examination of the specimens in the British Museum collected 7
by Lynes on the Kasai in north-east Angola shows that they agree closely 7
with this race to which they should be referred. An example collected”
further north at Petianga in the Belgian Congo is apparently closer to
M.a.malbranti Chapin.
M.a.tropicalis Hartert
Opinion differs as to whether M.a.ruwenzoria Kinnear can be kept
separate from tropicalis. I have examined two series, at Tervuren and in
the British Museum (Natural History). The supposed difference in the
colour of the abdomen is inconstant and not very reliable but a proportion ©
of ruwenzoria can be recognized by the greater development of black on |
the upper side. The series at Tervuren happens to support ruwenzoria much §
better than that in the British Museum, and it is noteworthy that two equally
good series of a number of larks studied in two different museums often 7
give quite contradictory pictures of variability. The recognition of
ruwenzoria 1s a border line case. Many subspecies are commonly kept up
on equally unstable characters, and if I had seen only the Tervuren series ©
I should uphold it without doubt. As it is not so well marked in another
good series, my inclination is to regard tropicalis in wide terms as I have
done above with more southern populations of this lark, and not keep
ruwenzoria separate.
M.a.sharpei Elliot
This red lark of British Somaliland has always been given specific
rank, but careful examination of the specimens in the British Museu
convinces me that it is merely a red race of M.africana which has lost most |
of its black pigment. In other respects the agreement is close as in head and
face pattern, structure of bill, nostrils and wing, including the slight |)
indentation of the inner web of some primaries, and markings on inner
secondaries. A parallel situation is found in the red Somaliland race of
M.africanoides, and 1 can see no further justification to maintain sharpel |
as a separate species.
The Mirafra africana species group -
Mirafra africana is no doubt an old species for it has spread from the 3
Cape Province to British Somaliland, Darfur and French Guinea with many ~
rather striking discontinuities in its distribution. Populations in British —
Somaliland, Darfur, Northern Nigeria and French Guinea are all
apparently very isolated from each other; there is other evidence of broken —
distribution in Central Africa. Yet these isolated populations are not very |
strikingly different from each other, and it seems likely that this large lark |

1956 . 123 Vol. 76

| has occupied certain areas more than once and given rise to a species group
- including several derivatives which are now too distinct to rank as sub-
| species, and since not wholly allopatric cannot be imagined as a super-
| species. The following are the species which I regard as very closely
related to M.africana.

| (a) M.hypermetra (Reichenow)

| This large lark of north-east Africa is largely allopatric to M.africana;
| it evidently overlaps the same region as M.africana inhabits in parts of
| Kenya and north Tanganyika but it is doubtful if the two ever live quite
| side by side and there is no evidence of intergradation. Specimens of
| M.hypermetra and M.africana in the Natural History Museum both
| labelled as Loliondo, North Tanganyika, were collected in very different
| country; M.hypermetra is low dry country in the Rift valley, M.africana
| considerably higher. Macdonald in describing M.h.kidepoensis (Bull.
| B.O.C. 60, 1940, p. 59) assigned to it two birds from Maroto and the
| Nakwai hills in north Uganda, and suggested that tail length was important
/in distinguishing M.hypermetra and M.africana. M.a.tropicalis and
| M.a.athi do not normally exceed 66 mm. in tail length; the tail in three
| M.h.kidepoensis is 74-81 mm. But the gap is bridged: M.a.sharpei from
| British Somaliland has a tail 65-73 mm.; the birds from north Uganda
| have tails 70-72 mm. In my opinion these birds from north Uganda are
| an undescribed race of M.africana which | refrain from naming until more
| material from surrounding areas of East Africa is available. They differ
|from M.hypermetra in colour, and apart from size, their pattern and
| colour seems to indicate clearly their relationship to M.africana.

(b) M.somalica (Witherby)

This lark has always been known as Certhilauda somalica; its long bill in
the males recalls Certhilauda, but there the resemblance ends. The female
| has a smaller bill, little different to M.a.sharpei. The patterns of the wings,
| tail, and inner secondaries with their concentric lines of colour are wholly
| unlike Certhilauda and indicate a close relationship to M.hypermetra.
Such scanty evidence as exists indicates that M.somalica occupies lower
altitudes in Somalia than M.a.sharpei. In my view all the evidence suggests.
| that British Somaliland has had a double invasion by larks of the africana
‘group. M.somalica is a derivative of M.hypermetra and has not only
-acquired a foxy colour characteristic of many Somali larks, but has also
/evolved a more Certhilauda-like bill, but its pattern has been retained
sufficiently to show its real affinities. The similarity between females of
| M.somalica and M.a.sharpei is very remarkable.

| (c) M.angolensis Bocage

This lark is allopatric to M.africana in the highlands of Angola but the
two occur very close to each other at Mwinilunga in Northern Rhodesia
and in the Katanga, and possibly live side by side over a small area. I have
/not actually collected the two together. Despite its distinctive pattern
| which bears a superficial resemblance above to M.apiata, I find M.ango-
lensis in the field quite unlike a Clapper Lark and very like M.africana.
| Males of M.angolensis often have longer and more attenuated bills than
_ females and so exhibit some approach to the characters of a Certhilauda.
I believe M.angolensis is best regarded as an offshoot of the M.africana

_ group.

Vol. 76 - 124 1956

(d) M.chuana (Smith)
This lark has often been placed in a monotypic genus Heterocorys;
Meinertzhagen placed it in Certhilauda. Actually it offers a close resem-
blance to M.africana, differing in its rather slenderer bill and loss of red
on the flight feathers. It is not known whether it is wholly allopatric to
M.a.transvaalensis Hartert, but may overlap with it in the west Transvaal.
Field studies of the two in this area are greatly needed. M.chuana should
be placed near to M.africana in taxonomy.
An arrangement of the African species of Mirafra.
Group A: ‘‘finch-like’’
M. javanica (3 races)
cordofanica
williamsi
cheniana
albicauda (2 races)
Group B: ‘‘africana assemblage’’
M.hypermetra (4 races)
somalica
africana (about 20 races)
chuana
angolensis
Group C: ‘‘clappers’’
M.apiata (8 races) :
rufocinnamomea (14 races) } probably ihe ser el eS
Group D.
M.africanoides (13 races)
Group E
M.collaris
Group F: ‘‘tree-perching group”’
M.rufa (3 races)
gilletti
poecilosterna (2 races)
sabota (10 races)
Group G: ‘‘Thrush-like, migratory’’
M. nigricans (includes erythropygia as a subspecies)
Group H ‘‘Heteromirafra’’, possibly worth generic rank
M.ruddi

BY superspecies

On the type locality of Lybius bidentatus (Shaw)

by CAPTAIN C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Received 9th December, 1955

Shaw, and all other authors, have given Barbary as the type locality of
this species and we cannot find that any author has suggested a better
locality. Barbary is confined to the northern part of Africa, west of Egypt —
to the Atlantic and north of the Sahara. This species’ most northern ~
limit today would appear to be northern Nigeria and it may have been
taken to north Africa by the old trade routes either alive or as a skin. —
As it.is now known not to occur anywhere north of Nigeria we would —
propose Northern Nigeria as the type locality. -

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Notices

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BULLETIN |

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BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

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PU! ahs Pubiished: Ist November, 1956 RAL HISL

The five hundred and fiftieth meeting was held at the Rembrandt Hotel,
South Kensington, on Tuesday, 16th October, 1956, following a dinner
at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACKWoRTH-PRAED.
Guests of the Club: Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Darnton. Members: 42;
Sruests: 27; Lotal: ‘/1.

From Flamingos to Hippos

Mrs. Iris Darnton showed her latest colour film taken in East Africa.
In a wealth of magnificent shots it is difficult to pick out the most out-
standing. The opening sequences of the Lesser Flamingos were superb,
as were the pictures of the Crowned Crane at the nest and with young.
Those of the Red-billed Hornbill! were the first ever taken showing some
of the nesting habits, including the male feeding the female, while she was
fully occupied walling in the young in the nesting hole with pure mud.
Other memorable pictures included the Crimson-breasted Shrike at the
nest and an amusing scene showing White-necked Ravens pulling at
vultures’ tails as they waited their turn to feed on a floating hippo corpse.

Captain Pitman described the films as exquisite, while the Chairman in
closing the meeting admitted to being at a loss for words adequate to the
occasion. The films, he said, were fantastic.

An Unusual Plumage Variation in the Wigeon, Anas penelope
Linnaeus

by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON and Dr. JEFFERY G. HARRISON
: Received 31st March, 1956

In previous communications }» ?> 3 we have called attention to some
unusual plumages in the Anatidae and to the significance of some varia-
tions of pattern in birds. Amongst these we have recorded as one type of
variation, the spotting of the undersides, a condition found in Anas

platyrhynchos Linnaeus, Anas crecca crecca Linnaeus, and now the subject
of this communication, Anas penelope Linnaeus.
We hold the view that this unusual spotting represents a reversionary

Vol. 76 126 1956

expression, and that in all probability the primitive Anatidae were heavily
and generally spotted or streaked on the undersides.

One of us (J.G.H.)* has discussed at length the breast spotting in Anas
platyrhynchos, examining the position as to whether such individuals
should be regarded as genuine immigrants when found in the British Isles
(i.e. in this case A.p.conboscas) or as mutations. An analysis of this charac-
ter in Mallard from east to west revealed a ratio cline of from zero in
India to 100 per cent in Greenland and 83 per cent in Iceland, an instance
quoted by Huxley ° of his ‘‘morphic cline.’’

The fact that in the two other species mentioned—the Teal and Wigeon,
the breast and flank spotting is of far less regular occurrence suggests that
this character, when it is present, has probably a deeper significance.
Breast spotting is of course a normal character in A.c.crecca and A.c.
carolinensis, although flank and breast spotting below the normal breast-
shield level, as described by J. M. H. in A.c.crecca, is most unusual.

The Wigeon is regarded as a monotypic species and breast spotting is

found nowhere in its range as a recognized and normal character in any

plumage stage, so that the variation cannot be regarded as clinal, as was
found to be the case with this character in Anas platyrhynchos, but is due
to an autophoric reverse mutation towards a primitive plumage condition
in the Anatidae. .

The present specimen is an adult drake and was shot by J. G. H. in the
Medway Estuary, Kent, on December 17th, 1955. The breast spotting
can be seen on the accompanying plate, in comparison with a normal

drake Wigeon. The breast spotting extends on to the flanks to some™

extent, a fact that would also seem to determine the character as of evolu-
tionary significance.
(See page 133 for plate).

References :

1 Harrison, James M. ‘‘Exhibition of Varieties of the Teal,’’ Bu//.B.O.C., Vol. 66,
p. 24, 1945.

2 Harrison, James M. ‘‘On the Significance of Variations of Pattern in Birds,”
Buill.B.O.C., Vol. 73, pp. 37—40, 1953.

3 Harrison Jeffery G. ‘‘The Races of the Mallard,’’ Bul/.B.O.C., Vol 64, p. 58, 1944.

4 Harrison, Jeffery G. ‘‘An Undescribed Plumage Variation of the Drake Mallard, ”’ .

British Birds, Vol. XLII, p. 123-124, 1949.

5 Huxley, Julian S. ‘‘Morphism in Birds,’’ Acta XI Congr.JInter.Orn., p. 317, 1954. —

Notes on a Skull of the Genus Bulweria from St. Helena
by Dr. W. R. P. BOURNE

Received 23rd March, 1956

At the time of its discovery in 1502 the island of St. Helena was heavily
forested and formed one of the main breeding stations for the pelagic sea-
birds of the subtropical eastern South Atlantic. It seems probable that the
original sea-bird community of the island once included some or all of the
tropical Boobies, Terns, Tropic-birds, and Frigate-birds still found at
Ascension and South Trinidade to the north and west, and also several
petrels, which may have included some of the subtropical species now
found at Tristan da Cunha further south, but the forests and the main

1956 127 Vol. 76

sea-bird colonies were all destroyed soon after the island was colonised,

and the only sea-birds known to breed at the present day are such relatively

small and unobtrusive species as the Red-billed Tropic-bird Phaethon
aethereus, the Madeiran Storm-petrel Oceanodroma castro, and the tropical
Terns Sterna fuscata, Anous stolidus, Anous minutus, and Gygis alba
(Murphy, Oceanic Birds of South America, 1936; Haydock, Ostrich,
25 62). |

It seems probable that the larger petrels once nested in the floor of the
original woods of the island, and beds of petrel bones mixed with the shells
of extinct woodland molluscs are still found in the higher parts of the
island, while the deposits of old guano around the shore were sufficiently
extensive to be exploited for fertiliser during the nineteenth century
(Hutchinson, Bull. Amer. Nat. Hist. 96, 1-554). A small shearwater of the
Puffinus baroli-lherminieri group has previously been identified in these
deposits (Lambrecht, Handbuch der Palaeornothologie, 1933; so far as I
can discover these two species are osteologically indistinguishable); I have
recently examined the petrel skeletons in the British Museum (Natural
History), and the collection includes part of the skull of a second, larger
petrel of the genus Bul/weria collected on St. Helena together with the shells
of molluscs by a Lieut. Turton. Since this is a discovery of some interest
both in relation to the past avifauna of St. Helena and the zoogeography
of the petrels as a whole I have made an attempt to identify the species,
and it seems most likely to be the large subtropical race of the Soft-
plumaged Petrel, Bulweria mollis feae (Salvadori), previously only known
from the Cape Verde Islands and the deserts of Madeira.

I am indebted to Mr. J. D. Macdonald for permission to describe this

skull and those of related species extracted from the skins for comparison,

and to Mr. G. Cowles, who extracted the skulls from skins of Bulweria
mollis and Bulweria arminjoniana.

THE SKULL

The skull consists of a complete cranium lacking the jaws. In its general
structure and proportions it resembles the skulls of a number of morpho-
logically similar medium-sized Gad-fly petrels of the genus Bulweria,
including members of the ‘‘hasitata’’ species or super-species (B.cervicalis
and B.cahow), B.mollis, B.lugens, B.neglecta, B.arminjoniana, and probably
B.inexpectata, B.alba, and B.ultima, which I have not seen. It is slightly
smaller than the skulls of B.cervicalis and B.neglecta, slightly larger than
the skulls of B.mollis and B.arminjoniana, and very similar indeed to the
skulls of B.cahow figured by Shelfeldt (Ann. Carnegie Mus. 13 : 333). It
resembles B.cahow in being unusually heavily ossified, but since this is
probably a character which is related more closely to the age and sex of
the individual than the affinities of the species which has been directly
responsible for the excellent preservation of the skull I do not attach much
importance to it. ~

It would appear to be completely impossible to distinguish this skull
from those of all possible related species. However, the majority of the
Gad-fly Petrels are allopatric species which replace each other geographic-
ally in different climatic zones, so that it seems most likely that if the bird
from St. Helena belongs to a known species it will be one of the two
representatives of the group from the South Atlantic, subtropical Bu/weria

Vol. 76 128 1956

mollis from Tristan da Cunha and the Cape Verde Islands, or tropical
Bulweria arminjoniana from South Trinidade. I have therefore compared
skulls extracted from typical South Atlantic skins of these two species with
the cranium from St. Helena in an attempt to identify it. They are both
somewhat smaller than the cranium from St. Helena, and resemble each
other very closely indeed. However, the skull of B.mollis and the most
closely related species B./ugens, B.cervicalis, and B.cahow has the posterior
border of the inter-orbital septum partially ossified, forming a spur
projecting downwards in front of the optic foramen, while B.arminjoniana
and the most closely related species B.neglecta lack this spur, having the
optic foramen completely open anteriorly. In the skull from St. Helena
the spur is well developed; that fact that it is somewhat larger than the
skull of typical B.mollis from the sub-antarctic convergence suggests that
it must belong to the large subtropical race of that species, feae from the
Cape Verde Islands.

The remote possibility that the skull may belong to B.arminjoniana, a
member of the B.hasitata group, or an undiscovered species can only be
excluded by the examination of a larger range of material or the discovery
of a surviving colony of the birds in the cliffs of the island, and future
visitors to the island would do well to investigate this situation.

ZOOGEOGRAPHY

Although St. Helena is surrounded by tropical surface water it lies to
the lee of a cool current from the south and the belt of cool water welling
up along the coast of South-west Africa. Thus it might be expected that in
addition to the tropical species feeding around the island the marine
avifauna might include subtropical forms feeding over the cooler waters
to the south-east. Murphy (loc. cit.) remarks that a number of sub-
antarctic sea-birds follow cool currents north to the vicinity of St. Helena,
and such species as Fulmarus glacialoides, Procellaria aequinoctialis,
Procellaria cinerea, Bulweria macroptera, and Fregeita grallaria have all
been collected at least as far north as Ascension, but apart from old legends
that Albatrosses used to nest at St. Helena none of these birds have been
found nesting at either island. The present sea-bird community includes
five pan-tropical species, but only one, Oceanodroma castro, which can be
regarded as even marginally subtropical, because it frequents the cooler
eastern parts of tropical seas, breeding north to temperate Japan and
Madeira. Bulweria mollis feae is a subtropical form with a range very
similar to Oceanodroma castro in the Atlantic, but the smaller typical race
breeds in the subantarctic zone of the Southern Ocean, so that the dis-
covery of the remains of what seems to be this species at St. Helena lends
strength to the hypothesis that this island supported a mixed marine
avifauna including subtropical species in the past.

The presence of a colony of subtropical sea-birds on St. Helena in the
past will help to explain the peculiar bi-polar distribution of several sub-
tropical petrels in the Atlantic at the present day. These birds, Bulweria
mollis, Puffinus baroli, and Pelagodroma marina, all have very similar races
breeding at Tristan da Cunha and other stations near the subtropical
convergence of the Southern Hemisphere, and the Cape Verde Islands and
the Salvages or Madeira in the north, although they avoid the true tropics
entirely. Bones which may belong to two of them, Bulweria mollis and

1956 , 129 | Vol. 76

_ Puffinus baroli, have now been found at St. Helena, while the third,
Pelagodroma marina, has been seen at sea in that area, so that it seems
possible all three species may once have bred there; the large gap in their
present distribution will be explained if it is supposed that the birds
originally colonised St. Helena from the south by following cool currents
northward, and then colonised the northern hemisphere across the
equator from St. Helena, perhaps by following the line of cool water which
crosses the equator along the divergence between the Equatorial and
Guinea currents. The wide gap in the distribution of all three species at
the present day will be explained if colonies on St. Helena have been
exterminated by man in recent times.

APPENDIX: DETAILS OF SKULLS EXAMINED

SPECIES, RACE LENGTH WIDTH DEPTH OSSIFICATION
(external (Inter- (Lambda- of posterior
Bulweria: occipital zygomatic) occiptal border of
protuberance condyle) inter-orbital
fronto nasal septum
suture)
PMMACKOPUCTOA Since asses 49 36 pi Complete
1 LESCT A 49 364 24 Complete
CTS ae 44 35 21 Incomplete
C2) pete: aa a 43 33 nel Incomplete ~
Che ELLE Se hr 40 274 20 Incomplete
PRVELOMEVISY Gt) cake 40 28 20 Incomplete
hypoleuca nigripennis 00... 36 yin 164 Incomplete
(eS Gar a 42 31 pi) Absent
ROLL Oi | __—_—_—_ 39 MAS, 19 Absent
OIE TI os Ns OL a i 284 19 13 Absent
ee EICIEMA SP ua hae 423 30 20 Incomplete

A case of Congenital Muscular Hemiatrophy in a Barrow’s
Goldeneye

by Dr. JEFFERY G. HARRISON and Mr. PHILIP WAYRE
Received 12th May, 1956

Twenty Barrow’s Goldeneye ducklings, Bucephala islandica were
hatched during July 1955 from eggs received from Iceland by Mr. Philip
Wayre. At first all the ducklings appeared quite normal, but when they
were about two weeks old, it was noticed that one of them was slightly
lame. It is possible that the condition had been present previously, for in
the earliest stage it could have been overlooked easily among a large
number of ducklings.

The condition became steadily more pronounced and reached its peak
when the bird was about six weeks old and thereafter the bird got no worse.
It now preferred to remain on land, but if compelled to swim it became
very lopsided indeed, the right leg being much higher in the water and
hardly used at all. On land it was very lame, but could get about surpris-
ingly well, taking the weight on the left leg all the time. It fed well and
grew as well as any of the other ducklings. It would go down to the water
to drink, but would only go in when frightened.

Vol. 76 130 1956

The bird was last handled when about four months old. It was found
to be in comparatively good condition. It was eventually picked up dead
on 24th January, 1956, but was now found to be wasted and the feathers
on the left side of the breast were considerably worn, as if it had been
resting excessively on that side rather than equally on both sides. The

left foot was abnormally scaley on the underside and the claws were eroded —

on the outer two toes, while the centre toe was almost twice as long as its
opposite number. The size of the bones of the leg and foot were the same
on both sides. These changes in the foot were thought to be consistent
with stimulation from overuse, leading to hyperkeratinisation.

When skinned, it was immediately apparent that the body was asymmetri- ©

cal and that the right side was considerably more wasted than the left.
All three pectoral muscles were involved and the muscles of the thigh and
leg. The wing muscles were not comparable, as the bird had been pinioned
on the left side. The bones and joints of the thighs and legs appeared
normal and healthy.

The findings point to a primary failure in the development of the
muscles of the right side of the body and from the very early onset of
symptoms it would appear to be a congenital defect. The rare condition

of Congenital Hemiatrophy in humans would appear to be somewhat —

similar.

At present we know little about the prevalence of congenital malforma-
tions of muscles in birds. In the wild state they are unlikely to live for
long unless the lesion is small, and their chances of being examined are
minimal. Dr. James M. Harrison! has recorded one such case in a
Fieldfare; Turdus pilaris Linnaeus, in which he found a defect causing a
large depression in the lower and medial half of the left pectoralis major

muscle. From the complete lack of any reparative process, as would have ~

followed injury or inflammation, the condition was considered to be
congenital.

Reference
1 Dr. James M. Harrison. ‘‘A Defect of Musculature in a Fieldfare,’’ Bul/l.B.O.C.,
Vol 75; p: 31, 1955.

On some examples of Melanism in the Genus Parus Linnaeus —

by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE
Received 16th July, 1956

The occurrence of melanistic, or partially melanistic individuals within
the species of the genus Parus is evidently a very rare event. Previously

I was aware of only three such records, which are enumerated below. —

Quite recently, however, mainly through the good offices of Mr. I. J.
Ferguson-Lees, I have received details of three further cases.

GREAT TIT Parus major LINNAEUS
1. Carmunnock, Lanarkshire, Scotland. 16th October, 1942.
A female, underparts pale cream washed with black on the breast and
flanks. General tone dark, crown lacking normal lustre (Clancey
antea 63: 6).

1956 WS Vol. 76

2eeesner; Surrey.) 1955.

During the early part of the year Mr. E. D. Boyland frequently saw a
bird which had the cheeks and ear coverts sooty black, as were also those
parts of the wings and tail that are normally white. The yellow areas were
somewhat dingy, and the dorsal surface dull compared with normal birds.
3. Breamore, Hampshire. 11th April, 1956.

Aberrant Blue Tit, Lianymynech, Montgomeryshire.

One seen by Mr. F E Penrose had the whole head and neck **hooded’’
with black, which extended down the breast. No white was visible
anywhere in the wings or tail. Back a dull dark grey; breast dusky green;
bill and legs dark.

I am indebted to Mr. Edwin Cohen for additional details of this record.

BLUE Tit Parus caeruleus LINNAEUS

1. Oxfordshire. Date and exact locality ?

One shot in which all the feathers of the wings were more or less marked
with large brown spots (Zoologist 1849: 2428-32).

2. Llanymynech, Montgomeryshire. 24th February—26th March, 1956.

This bird, recorded by Mr. J. H. Owen, is a particularly interesting
case exhibiting as it does complete melanism coupled with a marked
deformity of the bill. The body was preserved in spirit and I have been
able to examine it in detail.

The bird is an adult and the whole plumage is strongly suffused with
black pigment. The dorsal surface appearing darker than the ventral,
due to the underlying normal pigmentation being darker. The usual
yellow of the ventral surface is just visible through the black suffusion.
There is no trace of white on the cheeks or wings. In my opinion this
bird must have shown a tendency to melanism from the fledgeling period,
and the condition became more pronounced with each successive moult.

The bill is deformed to an extent that must have made feeding virtually
impossible (see fig. 1). The bird no doubt weakened steadily, which
probably explains why it was ultimately found drowned in a shallow bowl
of water from which a normally healthy bird would have had no difficulty
in escaping. The upper mandible, which crosses over the lower on the

right-hand side, is 15 mm. in length and tapers to a fine point. It is so

strongly decurved that it almost forms a right angle. The lower mandible
is about 8.5 mm. in length, slightly recurved, and has a blunt tip from
which a piece appears to have been broken. Similar deformities have been
recorded previously in this species (British Birds xliv: 350 and xlv: 402),

Vol. 76 182 1956

and analogous cases in the Great and Coal Tits (ibid xliv: 350,
and The Countryman xxxviii: 238). The body of the bird under discussion
was considerably emaciated, obviously due to its inability to feed itself
properly during the final stages of development of the deformity, which
probably commenced growing spontaneously only a short period before
death occurred. In the case of the Great Tit mentioned above the deformity
was observed to commence growing quite suddenly, but the bird was able
to rid itself of the extra growth by vigorous rubbing before it proved fatal.
It is, I think quite certain that in cases where the victim is unable to dispose
of such growths by rubbing, etcetera, death from starvation must ultimately
occur.
CoAL Tit Parus ater LINNAEUS

1. Worplesdon, Surrey. 1908.

P. F. Bunyard (British Birds 1: 384) describes two melanistic birds that
he saw. The general appearance was greyish-black; head, beak, feet and
legs, back and wings, jet black; belly, breast, coverts, greyish-black;
cheeks and occipital spot dark greyish-black and just perceptible.

A new Race of the Short-toed Lark from Hungary

by Dr. L. HORVATH
Received 17th May, 1956

Calandrella brachydactyla hungarica subsp.nov.

Description: A conspicuously grey lark, not sandy-looking, like the
nominate form. Whole upper parts light grey, broadly streaked dark
grey, especially on the top of the head and the back; lores and super-
ciliary stripe light grey; ear coverts dark grey; chin, throat, breast and
belly light mouse grey, darker grey on upper breast; under tail coverts
conspicuously light whitish grey in colour; on each side of the upper —
breast there is a dark grey patch; axillaries and under wing-coverts light —

grey, not white tinged with sandy-buff, as in the nominate race. The tail ~

and wing feathers and the wing coverts have light grey inconspicuous
edges.

Distribution: Only known from the alkali plain of the Hortobagy,
in north-eastern Hungary.

Type: Inthe Hungarian National Museum of Natural History, Register
Number: 56.4.1. An adult male collected 5 kilometres south of Nagyivan,
Hungary, by Dr. L. Horvath, on 5th May, 1956. The type locality is
47° 30’ N., 20° 56’ E. Measurements: wing, 88.8 mm.; tail, 57.1 mm.;
tarsus, 20.9 mm.; bill from skull, 13.2 mm.

Remarks: This race has been found on the alkali plain Kunkapolnas,
in the south-west part of Hortobagy. A series of 12 males and 5 females
was collected near Nagyivan from the 4th to the 8th of May, 1956, with
the following measurements:

male female
wing ... -. oH ‘- 88.8—94.9 mm. 84.0-89.9 mm.
tail fd ee zoe Me 57.0—61.8 mm. 52.8—57.1 mm:
tarsus ag a 17.8—21.0 mm. 19.7—20.6 mm.

bill eemi'skull Oe 2d UM Paani daar 12.4-13.6 mm.

1956 133 Vol. 76

Two adult drake Wigeon
showing (/eft) a normal bird
and (right) the drake with

a spotted breast.

(see article on page 125)

Downy young of
Aythya erythrophthalma:
male on left, female on right.

(see article on page 140)

Vol. 76 134 1956

Nesting of the Tanganyika Masked-Weaver

by Mr. D. F. VESEY-FITZGERALD
Received 10th June, 1956

The Tanganyika Masked-weaver appears to be restricted in distri-
bution to the south-western corner of Tanganyika, the type locality being
Karema (Long: 20° 25’ E; Lat: 05° 50’ S.). The species was only known
from a few specimens and little has been recorded of its habits (Pread and
Grant, 1955). Recently this weaver has been found to be a common bird
in the Rukwa Valley, where a series has been collected and the nests
observed.

Chapin, (1954), places reichardi as a race of the Vitelline Masked-
weaver, Textor vitellinus, and Benson, (1955), notes its resemblance to the
Southern Masked-weaver, 7. velatus. But the latter author after examin-
ing the Rukwa birds is satisfied that they are distinct, and so it seems
worthwhile recording observations on this little known species.

Males in breeding dress and with testes enlarged have been collected is
February and a nesting colony was found in April, so the breeding season
can be taken to be during the latter part of the rains when the grass in
seeding, which is the usual time for weavers to nest. The colony was com-
posed of rather more than 20 nests which were situated in a tall stand of
Pennisetum purpureum, Elephant grass, on the bank of a river flowing
across a level plain of open grassland which was extensively flooded.
The nests were situated at 5-8 feet up the grass stems to which they were
attached at one point, usually along one side. The nest is retort-shaped,

Colony of Textor reichardi in stand of Pennisetum purpureum.

Nest of Textor reichardi, showing attachment to grass stem, the closely woven nature
of the structure and the downwardly directed entrance.

11 x 13 cm. but there is no neck to it at all. The entrance is more or less
semicircular, 4 x 3 cm. and faces downwards. The structure is strongly
and compactly built, the material being closely woven, the walls thick, and
the shape neatly rounded and very firm. The nest is composed of rather
narrow (3 mm) strips of grass blades; these are green in new, unfinished
nests, but fade to a brownish colour later. The inside is finished with
stalks and panicles of fine grasses, and a few feathers form a lining.

When the colony was found, 24. iv. 56., most of the nests contained
young; both male and female parents were at the colony. Eggs were found
in two nests and they were of two types. In one there were three half-
incubated eggs, which is probably the full clutch. These were very pale
blue and thinly splashed with very pale purple-brown; in one of these eggs
there was some spotting with the same colour at the big end. Measure-
ments: 2.07 x 1.41; 2.10 x 1.43; 2.14 x 1.41 cm. The second nest contained
one fresh egg, which was also pale blue but was heavily marked with small °
and scattered purple-brown blotches; 1.94 x 1.33 cm. Chapin (loc. cit.)
mentions the same variation of the eggs.

References :

Benson, C. W. (1955). The Masked Weaver Jextor velatus in the south-eastern
Belgian Congo and north-eastern Northern Rhodesia. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. LII, 3-4.

Chapin, J. P. (1954). The Birds of the Belgian Congo, pt. 4. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., Vol. 75s.

Mackworth-Praed, C. W., and Grant, C. H. B. (1955), Birds of Eastern and North
Eastern Africa, Vol. 2. Longmans, Green & Co.

Vol. 76 136 1956

A new Golden-winged Sunbird from Kenya

by Mr. JOHN G. WILLIAMS
Received 23rd June, 1956

On 25th June, 1955, during a brief visit to Mt. Uraguess at the southern
end of the Mathews Range, Northern Frontier Province, Kenya Colony,
I collected an adult female Nectarinia reichenowi which differed markedly
from females of this species collected in other parts of Kenya and northern
Tanganyika. It was a much smaller bird with a very strongly curved bill.
Unfortunately I was unable to secure further specimens at the time of my
visit, but in early October 1955 Mr. John Smart of the Kenya Forestry

Races of Nectarinia reichenowi: left to right, males, N.r.reichenowi, N.r.shellvae,
N.r.lathburyi; females, N.r.reichenowi, N.r.shellyae and N.r.lathburyi.

Department kindly collected a further four similar specimens on Mt.
Nyiro, immediately north of the Mathews Range. In addition to these
five specimens Dr. H. Friedmann has kindly sent me on loan three
Mt. Uraguess examples of this sunbird from the United States National
Museum collection. Dr. Friedmann had already drawn attention to the
small size of these specimens in his report on ‘‘Birds of Ethiopia and
Kenya’’ (Bull. 153, pt. 2, U.S.Nat.Mus. 1937).

A comparison of this material with a large series of the nominate race
collected throughout its range and with specimens of N.r.shellyae, kindly
sent to me by Dr. A. Prigogine, left no doubt that the northern population

1956 137 Vol. 76

of the Golden-winged Sunbird inhabiting the Mathews Range and
Mt. Nyiro represented a distinct new race.

I have pleasure in naming this new sunbird

Nectarinia reichenowi lathburyi
in honour of General Sir Gerald Lathbury, K.C.B., D.S.O., M.B.E.,
in recognition of his constant enthusiastic support of ornithological
research in East Africa.

Holotype: Adult male in full breeding plumage, in United States
National Museum collection, reg. no. 217741; locality, summit of Mt.
Garguez (—Uraguess), Mathews Range, Northern Frontier Province,
Kenya Colony; 0° 56’ N. 37° 24’ E.; altitude 7,100 feet; 27th August, 1911;
collector, E. Heller, Rainey African Expedition, 1911.

Description of holotype: Differs from nominate Nectarinia reichenowi
in its smaller size and more decurved bill. Metallic plumage, especially of
breast, more highly shot with crimson than in any specimen of nominate
reichenowi examined (40 specimens) with the exception of a single adult
male from Nanyuki, Mt. Kenya, which matches the holotype in this respect.

Soft parts: Iris dark brown; bill and feet black.

Measurements of holotype: Wing 76; exposed culmen 26: tail 61;
central rectrices 115 mm.

Allotype: Adult female, in United States National Museum collection,
reg. no. 217740; locality, summit of Mt. Garguez (= Uraguess), Mathews
Range, Northern Frontier Province, Kenya Colony; 0° 56’ N. 37° 24’ E.;
aamude: 7,100 feet; 25th Auveust, 1911; collector E. Heller, Rainey
African Expedition, 1911.

Description of allotype: Differs from nominate Nectarinia reichenowi
in its smaller size and more decurved bill; upper parts slightly darker and
underparts tinged deeper yellow than in nominate race.

Soft parts: Iris dark brown; bill and feet black.

Measurements of allotype: Wing 67; exposed culmen 24; tail 51 mm.

In addition to the characters enumerated in the descriptions of the
holotype and allotype, maies of N.r./athburyi in full eclipse plumage differ
from eclipse males of N.r.reichenowi (material of N.r.shellyae in this plumage
not available) in being darker, dead black against blackish-brown, on the
head and underparts. Only recently collected eclipse males of nominate
reichenowi were used in this comparison.

Habits: Lathbury’s Golden-winged Sunbird appears to be confined to
the Mathews Range and Mt. Nyiro, Northern Frontier Province, Kenya
Colony. During various expeditions to other mountains in the Northern
Frontier Province I found no trace of this sunbird on either Mt. Marsabit -
or Mt. Kulal, although Cinnyris mediocris, which occurs alongside
N.r.lathburyi on Mt. Nyiro, is not uncommon on Mt. Kulal.

The single female I collected on Mt. Uraguess was shot while feeding
from flowers of Loranthus sp., an orange-flowered parasitic plant growing
on an isolated tree in a mountain valley. On Mt. Nyiro Mr. John Smart
and Mr. William Hale both inform me that the species is common in the
larger open glades of the forest, where it feeds almost exclusively among
the orange blossoms of a Leonotis shrub and a yellow-flowered Crotolaria
bush which grows abundantly around the forest margin. Birds observed
by Mr. Hale (who unfortunately collected no specimens) and those secured

Vol. 76 7 138 1956

by Mr. Smart had their heads heavily dusted with the bright orange pollen
of these flowers.

My colleague, Mr. R. Carcasson, has kindly examined in detail the stom-
achs’ contents of the five recently collected specimens and reports as follows:

Adult male, Mt. Nyiro: Many fragments Hymenoptera (flying ants);
Jassidae (1 jassid); Coleoptera (various fragments, including Lampyridae);
Lepidoptera (scales from wing); fragments of Blattidae and ? Diptera.

Adult male, Mt. Nyiro: Fragments of Coleoptera (Chrysomelidae and
Melolonthidae); Ephemerid (1 mayfly); Diptera (Ortalidae); and | spider.

Adult male, Mt. Nyiro: Fragments of Diptera (including Culicidae,
Syrphidae and Muscidae); Coleoptera; Orthoptera (Acrididae and Blattidae
fragments); Lepidoptera (wing scales) and a few spiders’ legs.

Adult female, Mt. Nyiro: Mainly fragments of Diptera (Ortalidae) and
some Coleoptera (including Chrysomelidae).

Adult female, Mt. Uraguess: Fragments of several spiders and some
Coleoptera (mainly Chrysomelidae). This specimen, when picked up after
shooting, dripped a clear fluid from the bill, almost certainly nectar.

Breeding: The holotype collected on 27th August is in full breeding
plumage and a second adult male collected on the same date is in moult
to breeding plumage. However, there is no data on the labels of these
specimens to indicate gonad condition. Two of the adult males collected
by Mr. Smart on Mt. Nyiro on 11th October are in full eclipse plumage
_ with small testes, but his third male, collected on the same date, is com-
pleting moult into breeding plumage and had testes 5 mm. long. The adult
female collected by Mr. Smart in October and the female I collected on
25th June were not in breeding condition. From this inadequate data it
seems likely that N.r.Jathburyi has an extended breeding season with a
possible peak period between February and April.

The races of Nectarinia reichenowi

In the course of the present study material of Nectarinia reichenowi from
throughout its known range was assembled, which has enabled me to
revise the status of the two previously described races of this sunbird.

Nectarinia reichenowi alinderi (Laubmann), Anz.Orn.Ges.Bay. i, no. 12,
p. 127, 1928: Mt. Elgon. Through the kindness of Mr. John Fowler I
have received topotypical specimens of this race. I find that these agree
exactly in measurements, bill formation and colour with a topotypical
series of the nominate race. I agree with Granvik’s and Prigogine’s
findings that this race was founded on an immature or subadult bird.
N.r.alinderi (Laubmann ts therefore a synonym of N.r.reichenowi (Fischer).

Nectarinia reichenowi shellyae Prigogine, Rev.Zool.Bot.Africaines,
vol. 46, p. 414, 1952: Lake Lungwe, highlands north-west of Lake Tangan-
yika, Belgian Congo. Dr. A. Prigogine has very kindly sent me specimens
of this race. I find N.r.shellyae to be a well-defined race, characterised in
both sexes by its less curved bill (fig. 1) and in the female by the contrast
between the grey crown and nape and the dark olive mantle.

Nectarinia reichenowi is therefore separable into three well-marked
geographical races (table 1):

N.r.reichenowi (Fischer), a large race with a strongly curved bill; crown
colour in female not contrasting with colour of mantle. Range: Highlands
of Kenya Colony (except Northern Frontier Province) west to Mt. Elgon

1956 139 Vol. 76

on Kenya/Uganda border, south to highlands of northern Tanganyika.

N.r.shellyae Prigogine, a large race with a moderately curved bill; crown
colour in female contrasting with colour of mantle. Range: Confined to
mountains north-west of Lake Tanganyika, Belgian Congo, at altitudes
over 7,000 feet.
- N.r.dathburyi, a small race with a shorter, very strongly curved bill;
crown colour in female not contrasting with colour of mantle. Range:
Confined to the Mathews Range and Mt. Nyiro in the Northern Frontier
Province of Kenya Colony.
Acknowledgements

Without the kind assistance of many friends this paper would not have
been written. I am especially indebted to Dr. A. Prigogine for his kindness
in sending me specimens of N.r.shellyae from the Belgian Congo; Mr. John
Fowler has taken great trouble to collect specimens for me on Mt. Elgon;
Mr. and Mrs. John Start of Molo have sent me valuable specimens from
the western Kenya Highlands; Mr. John Smart has collected examples of
N.r.lathburyi on Mt. Nyiro, without which it would not have been possible
to describe the new race; Dr. H. Friedmann has sent me on loan the Mt.
Uraguess specimens in the United States National Museum; my entomo-
logical colleague, Mr. R. Carcasson, has taken great trouble in identifying
the contents of several stomachs; Colonel M. Cowie, Director of Royal
National Parks of Kenya, and his staff, especially Mr. G. Dalton and
Mr. T. Adamson, have given me much encouragement and assistance in
the field.

TABLE |
Measurements of adult Nectarinia reicheonwi in milimetres
_ Number of Mean: to
Race Dimension Sex specimens Range nearest mm
N.r.reichenowi wing 33 40 79-86 82
O° 1S 68-73 70.5
exposed 3d 40 26-31 29
culmen oe) 15 25-28 27:5
tail 33 40 61-72 65
OQ ies 50-57 53
central Jbd 40 118-144 130
rectrices
N.r.shellyae wing 3d 3 78-83.5 80
oe) 2 70 70
exposed 3d 3 30-32 31
culmen 2° 2 28 28
tail 3d ; 3 67—-69.5 68.5
oe) Z 58-60 59
central 33 3 119-127 124
rectrices
N.r.lathburyi wing 33d 5 75-80 77
ee 3 67-68 67:5
exposed reve 5 25-26.5 25.5
culmen OQ 3 22.524 23
tail 3d 5 58-61 60
oe) 3 50-52 51
central Yet 5 106-124 114

rectrices

Vol. 76 140 1956

On the Downy Young of Aythya erythrophthalma

by Mr. JOHN G. WILLIAMS
Received 23rd June, 1956

Although the African or Southern Pochard, Aythya erythrophthalma
(Wied), is one of the commoner African ducks it would seem from a
perusal of the literature that the plumage of the downy young has hitherto
been unknown. Messrs. Mackworth-Praed and Grant, African Handbook
of Birds, series 1, vol. 1, state ‘‘Nestling plumage unrecorded.’’

Recently while investigating the bird-life on the Tigoni dam near
Limuru, Kenya Colony, in company with General Sir Gerald Lathbury
and Mr. David Roberts, a female African Pochard and seven newly-
hatched ducklings were encountered. The male pochard was also in
attendance, following up in the wake of his brood. Upon the boat being
manoeuvred towards them the ducklings scattered and escaped by diving,
later disappearing into the shelter of a fringing reedbed. The adult birds
flew a short distance away: there was no distraction display by either parent.
Later in the day the female was flushed from her nest in a patch of weather-
beaten grassy sudd and two downy young were collected. These, upon
dissection, were found to be a male and female about forty-eight hours old.
Description of downy young of Aythya erythrophthalma

Male: Crown, nape, hind neck, mantle, back, rump, uropygial tuft,
patch on side of chest, sides of thigh, flank patch above thigh and ill-
defined patch on each side of the abdomen sepia-brown with a strong
olivaceous tinge; a faint brown streak across the ear-coverts; forehead,
sides of head, chin, throat and remainder of underparts pale sulphur-
yellow; lores tinged chrome-yellow; wing-bar, small patches on either side
of back (below wings) and small round patches above uropygial tuft pale
greenish-yellow. (Fig. 1).

Soft parts: Iris pale grey; bill, including nail, pale pinkish-grey, merging
to pinkish-white along edges of mandible and tip of nail, lower mandible
pinkish-white; legs and feet dark olive-grey, front of tibis-tarsal joint and
sides of tarsus dusky greenish-white, toes dark olive-grey bordered on each
side by dusky greenish-white stripe. webs dark olive-grey, hind toe olive-
grey with greenish-white web.

The female resembles the male, but has the lores pale sulphur-yellow,
not tinged chrome-yellow.

Locality: Tigoni dam, near Limuru, eastern Highlands, Kenya Colony.
1°O80S..36° 41 ES -7 (000 feet. “LOth June, 1956.

Food: My colleague, Dr. Bernard Verdcourt, has kindly examined the
stomachs’ contents, upon which he reports as follows:

Male: 20 per cent insect fragments, including many aquatic Hemiptera,

some Diptera and a few Hymenoptera (tiny ants). 80 per cent vegetable
matter, including fragments of water-lily leaf, bladderwort stems and
several unidentified seeds.
_ Female: 50 per cent insect fragments, including mainly aquatic Hemip-
tera, with a few Diptera and Hymenoptera (ants). 50 per cent vegetable
matter, chiefly water-lily leaf and bladderwort fragments, seeds of Poly-
gonum and some other unidentified seeds.

The ducklings were observed to feed only on the surface of the water, _

1956 141 Vol. 76

among a rank growth of water-lilies at the edge of a reed-bed. They
resorted to diving only as a means of escape when disturbed.
I am greatly indebted to my friend Mr. C. A. Spinage for the photograph
which illustrates this paper.
(See page 133 for plate).

Are Luscinia pectardens (David and Oustalet) and Luscinia
obscura (Berezowsky and Bianchi) colour phases of a single
species?

by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN AND Dr. CHARLES VAURIE
Received 12th May 1956

We believe that the specimens that we have examined strongly suggest
this possibility. Further collecting and field observations on behaviour
and ecology are required before this question can be settled, but, as these
are not likely to be forthcoming in the predictable future, our evidence is
presented here. The material studied consists of the specimens in the British
Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

These specimens are four adult males of L. obscura, Berezowsky and
Bianchi 1891, collected for A. Owston during the breeding season on the
Ta pai Shan of the Tsinling Range in Shensi, one on 30th May and the
others on 14th July, 1905. Females, juvenile or first winter males, or males
in non-breeding plumage of this form are unknown, or at least do not seem
to have been recorded in the literature. The material of L. pectardens David
and Oustalet 1877 consists of 24 specimens and includes adults of both
sexes, juvenile and first winter males and adult males in non-breeding
plumage. These were collected at all seasons—except during the pre-
breeding season moult—in Burma, Yunnan, south-eastern Tibet, Sikang
and Shensi. Only one specimen of L. pectardens, a fully adult male in
breeding plumage, was obtained in Shensi but it is noteworthy that it was
taken by the same collectors on 12th July at exactly the same locality as the
four of L. obscura. Thus the two forms evidently occur together during
the breeding season in Shensi, but only adult males in breeding plumage
are known to us from this region. L. obscura was first obtained in Kansu,
by Berezowsky and Bianchi (1891). They saw only four adult males, all
in breeding plumage and all of which they obtained. They found some
naked nestlings on the ground one evening and presumed, since they shot
a male L. obscura nearby, that they belonged to this species. They failed,
however, to find the nest, from which the young had fallen or been removed,
or to see the female parent.

The plumage sequence of the male L. pectardens has been described
(Goodwin 1956) but naturally no such study could be made in L. obscura
because, as stated, the only specimens are adult males in breeding plumage.
In this plumage the males of the two forms differ only through some sharply
alternate characters in their coloration, namely: in pectardens the throat
_ from the point of the chin to the level of the upper breast is orange whereas
_ in obscura it is pure black; pectardens has a large white spot at the sides of
the hind neck, lacking in obscura and its flanks and lower belly are washed
with buff rather than ashy grey. The colour of the throat and the presence

Vol. 76 142 1956

versus the absence of the white spot are clearly alternative characters but
it is doubtful is this is true of the colour of the flanks and belly because in
one of the specimens of obscura the grey of these parts is invaded by an
appreciable amount of buff and another specimen shows some slight

ANNAN

Diagrammatic sketch of the pattern of the fifth tail feather (left side and counting from
the outside) in two males of obscura (A) and five of pectardens (B).

traces of it. Also the coloured plate in Berezowsky and Bianchi shows a bird .
with buff belly. It is possible that the colour of these parts is influenced —

by modifiers, inoperative for the other two characters. Other than these
alternate characters the males of the two forms are identical or virtually so.
They are perfectly identical in coloration and have a similar tail pattern
(sketch). This pattern, as well as the measurements (table), show a

certain degree of variation but this seems to be purely individual. Almost —

all the measurements are identical. The shape of the bill varies very
slightly but this variation is barely discernible and again almost all

specimens are identical. The wing formula and the proportions are the ~

same.

The fact that the two forms differ only in alternate colour characters
suggests to us that they are one species in which the males have a dimorphic
breeding plumage. Instances of dimorphism are not rare in birds and have
been discussed by Mayr and Stresemann (1950) in another genus of

thrushes. In that genus (Oenanthe) the adult males of several species are —

dimorphic, and in other species are polymorphic. In O. monticola we also

have two alternate characters, in one phase the crown is black and the belly ~

white and in another phase the crown is white and the belly black. The

black-throated phase in our birds is known so far only from the extreme —

eastern end of the range but it is possible, as in the case of the species
studied by Mayr and Stresemann, that the dimorphism varies geographic-
ally. Other instances of geographically variable dimorphism have been
discussed by Chapin (1947) in the bush-shrikes (Chlorophoneus).
Additional remarks. Goodwin has found that the unsexed specimen
collected in January 1936 near Bhamo, and identified in Garthwaite and
Ticehurst (1937) as being presumably a male of obscura in winter plumage
is identical with specimens of pectardens from the Tsang po Valley in
south-eastern Tibet in the same stage of plumage. The male collected by
Koelz in the Garo Hills on 18th January is not available to us. This
spectmen was described by Koelz (1954, p. 12) as a new species which he

1956 143 Vol. 76

called Luscinia daulias but Vaurie, judging by the description, believes that
there is very little doubt that it is also a first winter bird (pectardens phase).

We wouid like to express our appreciation to Drs. D. Amadon and
E. Mayr for reading the manuscript and for their comments. The possi-
bility that pectardens and obscura are colour phases had occurred indepen-
dently to Mayr who raised this question in a letter to Vaurie when the
present study was nearly completed.

MEASUREMENTS OF MALES

obscura : wing bill tarsus tail
phase WZ 16.8 26.5 oS)
70 18.5 29 46+
nA 17 broken 46
i2 16.8 26.5 Sf.5
pectardens wing bill tarsus tail
phase 69.5 16 26 48
70 ite DT 49
(P 16 26 52
73.5 i, broken a8
70.5 16 26.5 52
71 17 29 51
71 17 28 48
70 15 27 51
TUS 16 28 broken
69 ig CRS 51
ip? broken 26 Jo.
70 17 26.5 50

Literature cited

Chapin, J.P. 1947 Color Variation in Shrikes of the genus Chlorophoneus_ Auk, vol. 64,
pp. 53-64.

Garthwaite, P. F., and Ticehurst, C. B. 1937. Notes on some birds recorded from
Burma. Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. 39, p. 555.

Goodwin, D. 1956. Note on the plumages of the Firethroat Luscinia pectardens (David).
Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 76:5 :74-75.

Koelz, W. N. 1954. New Birds from Iran, Afghanistan and India. Contrib. Jnst. Reg.
Expl., No. 1, pp.1-32 (P.O. Box 2143, University Station, Ann Arbor, Michigan).

Mayr, E., and Stresemann, E. 1950. Polymorphism in the chat genus Oenanthe (Aves).
Evolution, vol. 4, pp. 291-300.

Note on the genus Pseudocossyphus Sharpe

by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN
Received 2nd May, 1956

Sharpe (1883) separated Cossypha sharpei Gray from the genus Cossypha
and made it the type species of a new monotypic genus Pseudocossyphus.
He did not enumerate the characters of the genus but from the key (p. 2)
it would appear that the main differences were its shorter bill and shorter
tail in relation to wing length. He remarked (p. 35) that the only other
species of Cossypha from Madagascar, C. imerina Hartlaub, might prove
referable to Pseudocossyphus but that he had seen no specimens. Delacour
(1932) included both species in Pseudocossyphus without comment. Then
Ripley (1952) returned these species to Cossypha but without giving definite
morphological reasons for so doing. His remark that Pseudocossyphus
“‘has a rather broad culmen and prominent rictal bristles’’ is applicable
only to P. sharpei. It is likely that P. sharpei is, phylogenetically, closely
related to P. imerinus—it has even (Sclater, 1930) been considered a race
of it—but with its relatively long tail and bill and short rictal bristles it

Vol. 76 144 1956

hardly agrees with Sharpe’s apparent conception of his genus Pseudo-
cossyphus.

P. imerinus and P. sharpei do bear a general likeness to the African
robin-chats of the genus Cossypha, but, in my opinion, their resemblance
in colour and colour-pattern to the rock thrushes of the genus Monticola
is far more striking. In colour P. imerinus could be well described as a pale
version of Monticola solitarius magnus (La Touche) whilst P.s. sharpei and
P. sharpei erythronotus (Lavauden) resemble, respectively Monticola
explorator (Vieillot) and M. rupestris (Vieillot) even more closely. Milne-
Edwards and Grandidier (1879) first referred to this probable affinity when
they noted that the Madagascar species of Cossypha (sic) agreed with
Monticola in being sexually dimorphic. Details of the pattern and the
scale-like markings of the female plumage also emphasize this relationship.
Possible points of difference are that P.s. sharpei has more prominent
rictal bristles and a proportionately shorter bill than any rock thrush
although not much shorter than that of M. rufiventris (Jardine and Selby).
This feature is less marked in P. sharpei erythronotus and in P. imerinus the
bill agrees with that of many Monticola. Both species are much smaller
and have more rounded and shorter wings than most rock thrushes although
P.s. sharpei comes quite close to Monticola rupestris in its wing and tail
proportions and P. imerinus is as large as the Little Rock-thrush Monticola
rufocinerea (Ruppel).

P. imerinus inhabits open coastal regions with some bushes and P. sharpei
is a bird of the forest floor (Rand 1936). Although the rock-thrushes are
typically birds of high altitude some of them are found in bushy or-even
forested country (Meinertzhagen 1951) and some occur at low altitudes
in winter. Habitat differences do not, in my opinion, invalidate the
probability of close relationship between Pseudocossyphus and Monticola.
Insufficient has been recorded of the behaviour of Pseudocossvphus to be
of help in this matter. The eggs of P. sharpei (the more Cossypha-iike of
the two) are pale blue, like those of Monticola and unlike those of Cossypha.
Too much weight cannot, however, be given to this, as Cossypha natalensis
A. Smith occasionally lays blue eggsand other robin-chats may possibly doso.

In conclusion it would seem, from present evidence, that Pseudocossyphus
is more closely related to Monticoia than to Cossypha or any other turdine
genus. Future comparative studies of its anatomy and/or behaviour
patterns may show that it should be submerged in Monticola. For the
present, however, it seems best to retain the genus Pseudocossyphus,
although the shorter wing is, as has been mentioned, the only feature that
will differentiate both species of Pseudocossyphus from all Monticola.
References
Delacour, J. 1932. Les Oiseaux de la Mission zoologiques Franco-Anglo-Americaine a

Madagascar. L’Oiseau (Nouv. ser.) 2:1-96.

Meinertzhagen, R. 1951. ‘‘Some relationships between African, Oriental and Palae-

arctic genera and species, with a review of the genus Monticola.’’ Ibis, 93:3 :443-459.
Milne-Edwards and Grandidier. 1879. Histoire physique, naturelle et politique de

Madagascar, vol. XII :1 :369-371.

Rand, A. L. ‘‘ The distribution and habits of Madagascar Birds.’’ Bull. Amer. Mus.

Nat. Hist., X11, art. V, pp. 436-437.

Ripley, S. D. 1952. ‘‘The Thrushes.’’ Postilla, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural

History, 13, p. 11. :
Sclater, W. L. 1930. Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, Pt. 2, p. 476. RBH Mos
Sharpe, R. B. 1883. Cat Birds, Brit. Mus. 7, pp. 2, 21, 35. J ee

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Notices

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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
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Volume 76 December
No. 9 1956

1956 | 145 Vol. 76

BULLETIN
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

| Volume 76 «
ANT? WEE Number 9 ate
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RAL AIS

The five hundred and fifty-first meeting was held at the Rembrandt
Hotel, South Kensington, on Tuesday, 20th November, 1956, following
a dinner at 6.30 p.m.

Chairman: Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON.

Members, 26; Guests, 2; Guest of the Club, Dr. A. McDiarmid; Total, 29.

Dr. A. McDiarmid, D.Sc., of the Agricultural Research Council Field
Station at Compton, Berkshire, gave a most interesting lecture on ‘“‘Some
Diseases of Free-living Wild Birds,’’ illustrated by lantern slides. His talk
gave rise to a wide discussion in which Sir Landsborough Thomson, Sir
Philip Manson-Bahr, Mr. John Beer, Mr. J. D. Macdonald, Dr. Jeffery
Harrison and the Chairman took part.

Some Diseases of Free-living Wild Birds in Britain
by Dr. A. MCDIARMID

The general attitude towards disease in free-living wild birds and
mammals has altered greatly within the last twenty years. Originally it
was thought that wild species were relatively free from infections, a state
of affairs which could well be envied by a very unhealthy human popula-
tion. This view has now been shown to be wrong; bird populations suffer
from epidemics in much the same way as various other populations do and
they can contract a variety of infections varying greatly in severity accord-
ing to the causal agent. In certain countries, notably the U.S.A., much
attention has been paid to this matter and it is perhaps unfortunate that
Britain has lagged far behind in this particular field. Other countries even
have research institutes devoted entirely to this subject, but so far our
Nature Conservancy has shown little interest in diseases of wild animals
apart from myxomatosis in rabbits and then, only from an ecological
viewpoint. In this country, there is no-one employed whole time on a
study of the problem of disease in wild life with perhaps one exception
at the 1.C.I. Game Research Station at Fordingbridge, where a considerable
amount of useful work has been done by Dr. P. Clapham, especially on the
helminths of game birds. It will be appreciated therefore that whatever
has been accomplished in Britain has been essentially a part-time
endeavour, often fitted in almost as a recreation from more serious work;

Vol. 76 146 1956

fortunately this pastime is becoming more popular, particularly with
medical and veterinary men, who have certain facilities available for further
examination of clinical material, consequently our knowledge of disease
in wild life is gradually accumulating. The purpose of this paper is
principally to describe some of the diseases encountered by the writer
during the past ten years in Berkshire and to outline their possible
significance from the veterinary and the public health angle.

: DISEASES CAUSED BY BACTERIA
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is comparatively common in wild birds. Personally I have
now encountered it in wood pigeons, rooks, jackdaws, starlings, pheasants
and partridges and cases have been recorded in other species. The
incidence may be as high as 4 per cent in woodpigeons and starlings and
about | per cent in rooks and jackdaws. Cases in game birds are rare and
nearly always result from close contact with an infected broody hen during
the rearing period. There is little doubt that in wood pigeons the disease
is enzootic and is transmitted directly from the brooding pigeon to the
squab—this is facilitated by the fact that 50 per cent of infected wood-
pigeons have gross lesions in the alimentary tract and must readily
contaminate the nest. At an early stage in our investigations it was
realized that plumage change occurred in tuberculous wood pigeons, the
affected bird being darker in colour and lacking the bloom of the normal
bird—this was first noticed by the Hon. Miriam Rothschild, who col-
laborated with us in our early work on this subject. This change was
reported in an early paper, McDiarmid (1948) and has recently been con-
firmed by Harrison and Harrison (1956), who have described these changes
in greater detail. So far, no plumage change has been noticed in any other
species of bird affected with tuberculosis apart from one partridge which
appeared to me to be much lighter in colour than normal, but this may
well be due to the lack of opportunity to study the feathers in detail and
may even be masked by the original colour of the bird. In a total of over
50 cases of this disease in wood pigeons, only one bird has been found
dead—the rest have been shot or found unable to fly. This confirms
how difficult it is to acquire cases of disease in wild birds; predators
invariably find the carcases before we do.

Tuberculosis in wild birds can be of considerable importance in farming
practice. This spring, on a Berkshire farm, vast numbers of wood pigeons
were observed feeding on a new ley. Despite constant shooting, the birds
refused to leave the locality until they had practically stripped the field
bare. Tuberculosis was detected in some of those birds. Some months
later, avian tuberculosis was detected by the tuberculin test in eight sows
which had been penned on this ley. This, of course, is purely circum-
stantial evidence but may serve to illustrate what actually can happen in
practice. Needless to say the disease is also transmissible to domestic
poultry and may also cause confusion in the interpretation of the tuberculin
test in cattle—a very important point as we are at present using this test to
eradicate tuberculosis from the dairy herds in Britain. Avian tuberculosis
is fortunately extremely rare in humans but the possibility cannot be
overlooked that infection could be acquired from handling infected wild
birds. The disease in wood pigeons is recognized in the London markets

1956 147 Vol. 76

and the meat inspectors check the birds by an incision over the liver. If
_ this organ shows “‘spots’’ the bird is discarded.

Cases of tuberculosis have been detected by various individuals in
predatory species but these are rare, although, from the habits of hawks,
one would expect them to have every opportunity of acquiring infection
through selection of weakly birds as their prey.

Pseudotuberculosis

This disease can frequently be confused macroscopically with tubercu-
losis but bacteriological and histological methods readily differentiate
between the two conditions. It is caused by Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis
an organism which has hitherto been considered responsible mainly for
disease in rodents. Cases have now been detected in wood pigeons, stock-
doves, treesparrows, wrens and magpies in a limited area of Berkshire.
From the species affected one wonders if the infection could have been
acquired initially from the dreys of grey squirrels but so far we have heard
of no records of the disease in squirrels in this country. From the public
health aspect, it is recorded that the few human cases which have occurred
have all proved fatal and the contamination of salad crops by birds is an
obvious possibility which should perhaps be guarded against in those
areas where there is a high carriage rate of the organism in wild life.

Paracolon infection

‘‘Paracolon’’ organisms have been incriminated mainly as infective
agents for human teings and in some instances in cold blooded animals
but recently (McDiarmid, 1954) cases have been found in wood pigeons
and partridges.

In the past, deaths in young partridges have often been attributed to
B.W.D. (Bacillary White Diarrhoea) but personally I have yet to find an
authentic case although many partridges have been searched systematically
for the causal agent during the past ten years. I am inclined to think that
the so-called B.W.D. cases in partridges (Fitzgerald, 1946) were probably
‘‘paracolon’’ infections. The macroscopic and microscopic lesions are
identical in both diseases and as the causal agents of B.W.D. and paracolon
infection are so alike it is possible that domestic poultry acquiring infection
with paracolon organisms from wild birds, might well react to the B.W.D.
agglutination test used in the poultry industry and be condemned unjustly
as infected with that particular disease. Again the possibility of food
poisoning in the human subject cannot be overlooked.

Air sac infection with Bacillus Pyocyaneus

Recently a considerable number of rooks, crows, jackdaws and starlings |
have been found affected with extensive lesions of the air sacs and lungs.
These cases have been detected by the examination of birds caught in
cagetraps on an estate in Berkshire and B.pyocyaneus has been demon-
strated in most of them. The etiology of the condition is closely linked to
this organism although, because of the findings in similar conditions in
domestic poultry, other causal agents may also be involved.

DISEASES DUE TO FUNGI
The most important fungus responsible for disease in birds is Aspergillus
fumigatus, Although a common disease in captive specimens it has rarely

Vol. 76 148 1956

been recorded in free-living specimens (McDiarmid, 1955). It is quite
common in seabirds and is readily mistaken for tuberculosis in herring
gulls—several specimens have been sent to my laboratory as cases of
tuberculosis but invariably they have proved to be mycotic in origin.
Wood pigeons may show very extensive lesions of the viscera but the
bird most commonly affected is the pheasant. On some estates the
mortality may reach 30% before the cause of the disease is realised. |
believe aspergillosis is a disease of comparatively recent introduction,
being mainly associated with combined harvesting on a large scale
McDiarmid, (1952) the pheasants acquire the infection from scratching
in fermenting heaps of damp weed seeds deposited in the coverts. These
heaps soon become a mass of mycelia and spores and the birds receive a
massive infection of the lungs and air sacs which rapidly proves fatal.

Actinomyces asteroides

This fungus has recently been found in a jackdaw which appeared quite
healthy when caught in a cage trap on our estate. On further examination
it was found to have lesions in the lungs and airsacs and the causal agent
was readily cultivated from these sites. This fungus has been known to
cause fatal encephalitis in humans. No doubt it will be demonstrated in
many more species in due course.

DISEASES CAUSED BY VIRUSES

So far we have not had the opportunity or facilities to examine birds
for these infective agents apart from pigeon pox which we have found
in numerous wood pigeons, but it is perhaps worth pointing out
that the incidence of psittacosis is high enough in the human popula-
tion and the sources of this disease sufficiently obscure, to warrant further
investigations as to carrier hosts of this virus in the wild bird population.
The classic studies of Rasmussen (1938) on the outbreaks in juvenile
fulmars on the Faroe Islands are perhaps a perfect illustration of what can
be done in this field. Lesions simulating ornithosis have been observed in
woodpigeons submitted to my laboratory but the virus has not been
isolated. Ornithosis, which is a form of psittacosis, has however been
detected in feral homer pigeons. Jennings, (1954) has also hinted at the

possibility of an encephalitis in titmice in Britain which might well be due

to a virus. Viral infections are of course common in wild birds in the
U.S.A., Australia, Egypt and elsewhere and in many instances have been
closely associated with the occurrence of encephalitis in the human and
domestic animal population. It is quite conceivable that certain wild
species might even act as reservoirs of polio virus. So far | am: unaware
of any survey having been made concerning possible carriers of this virus
apart from the human population. Newcastle disease, an important virus
infection of domestic poultry, has now been detected in British seabirds,
Wilson, (1950), Blaxland (1951) and ‘puffinosis’ an interesting condition
causing considerable mortality in Manx shearwaters and a variety of gulls,
has also recently been shown to be caused by a virus. (Surrey Dane, 1948).

DISEASES DUE TO PROTOZOA

In a general article such as this, it would be quite impossible to discuss
the various protozoa recovered from wild birds and perhaps it would

1956 149 | Vol. 76

suffice to say that this subject has hardly been touched upon in Britain
since Cole’s stimulating contribution in 1914. Opportunities are available
and perhaps in due course we will see a well planned investigation in close
collaboration with the Bird Ringing Centres, to study the incidence of
diseases such as malaria in various species. Work along those lines is
already proceeding in the U.S.A. Only a small quantity of blood is
required and the birds are not harmed in any way. The intestinal protozoa
such as coccidia are also in need of thorough investigation—little is
known about their life histories and nothing at all about their individual
host specificity. This is an excellent field for research and the information
which it might yield would be of value to the poultry industry and game
farmer, quite apart from the ornithologist. [richomoniasis caused by
Trichomonas columbae often occurs in woodpigeons but so far I have not
seen this condition in any other species. The cheesy-like lesions on the edge
of the bill are characteristic; probably many young squabs die from this
condition in the nest. It has, on occasion, been confused with pigeon pox.
Blackhead in partridges is worthy of mention. This disease, caused by
Histomonas meliagridis, has been responsible for considerable mortality
in certain partridge stocks during the past few seasons. It may, I think, be
associated with the practice of allowing poultry free access to stubble
fields. Extensive liver damage is usually present and the caeca are often
considerably enlarged.

DISEASES DUE TO ECTOPARASITES

Mortality in wild birds undoubtedly does occur as a result of severe
infestation with certain ectoparasites. The sheeptick, /xodes recinius can,
if present in considerable numbers, kill young grouse and heavy louse
infestation has been known to kill young game birds, such as pheasants.
Quite recently | have found small partridges a few days old killed by
massive mite infestation. These mites, which may be either forage acari
or the true ‘airsac’ mite of poultry, cause blockage of the young birds’
respiratory tract. The mites have also been observed in the lungs of adult
pheasants.

DISEASES DUE To HELMINTHS

It is difficult to say where normality ends and disease starts. An emaci-
ated wood pigeon teeming with Raillietina is an easy case to diagnose but
a young rook with Syngamus trachealis is quite a different proposition.
Suffice to say that in May every young rook shows the presence of Syngamus
in its trachea and yet they probably never die from this infestation. Pheas-
ants however appear to be still highly susceptible whereas domestic
poultry losses from those particular worms have diminished considerably
in recent years. In our experience the carriage rate in the adult rook
population is generally about 5 per cent. Cestodes appear to be the most
prevalent worms in wood pigeons associated with actual disease and
nematodes such as Trichostrongyles cause havoc in certain seasons in the
grouse and partridge populations. Jackdaws frequently show large

numbers of ascarids in their intestines but disease does not appear to be

associated with the presence of these worms. Despite the trematodes
found in a variety of gulls the balance between host and parasite is such
that neither appears to suffer greatly from the association.

Vol. 76 150 1956

TUMOURS

Cancer, as we know it, is virtually absent from wild birds chiefly because
of the short duration of life in most species. For example, I believe it is
rare to find freeliving woodpigeons more than four years old. Exceptions
do occur but these are few and far between. Apart from an epethelioma
affecting the head of a grey partridge the only tumours I have seen are
lymphomatosis in pheasants and partridges—this is a type of tumour
common in poultry and in every case there was close association between
the game birds and domestic hens.

From these remarks it will be realised that the problem of disease in
free-living wild birds in Britain has, as yet, been hardly touched upon.
Periodic mortality in certain species may well be associated with one or
more of a variety of infective agents. The ecologist is, in my opinion, too
often inclined to take the easy road and without due consideration of the
disease aspect, attribute mortality and fluctuation in populations to such
factors as availability of food, weather conditions and predation. Perhaps
in the not too distant future we will see a fuller co-operation between
ornithologists and ecologists on the one hand and bacteriologists, virolo-
gists and helminthologists on the other ; those engaged on a study of bird
behaviour might well detect variations in numbers of a certain species
from time to time and by passing on this information to those able to
investigate the mortality adequately might make a substantial contribution
to our knowledge of epidemiology.

References

Blaxland, J. D. (1951) Vet. Rec. 63, 731.
Coles, A. C. (1914) Parasitology 7, 17.
Fitzgerald, B. Vesey (1946) British Game. Collins London, 6S.
Harrison, J. M. and J. G. (1956) Bull. B.O.C. 76, 76.
Jennings, A. R. (1954) J. Comp. Path. 64, 356.
McDiarmid, A. (1948) J. Comp. Path. 58, 128.

(1952) ‘The Field’ London P. 1028.

(1954) Vet. Rec. 66, 460.

— (1955) J. Comp. Path. 65, 246.
Rasmussen, R. K. (1938) Ugeskr. Laeg. 100, 989.
Surrey Dane, D. (1948) J. Animal Ecol. 17, 158.
Wilson, J. E. (1950) Vet. Rec. 62, 33.

Bird Casualties on Roads

Mr. Gerald Finnis read a paper on the above subject at the September
-meeting, an account of which follows:

When the number of bird casualties found on roads particularly during
early summer made it almost possible for me to support a captive Little
Owl, I decided to study this subject more carefully. Most of my records
were obtained during cycle rides, when it is much easier to stop and collect
corpses or make notes on smears indicating a fatality, although I also try
to observe the behaviour of species when I am driving.

The following examples of road behaviour were cited: The weak flight —
of thrushes and blackbirds from low cover flanking roads without a path ©
was a frequent cause of death and in one of his letters (27th June, 1923)

1956 eu | Vol. 76

the late Col. T. E. Lawrence describes an incident when a thrush hit his
side-car and he overturned the combination in a vain effort to avoid it.
Blackbirds and robins are feeders in the leaf littler of roads during late
autumn and winter and although the blackbird is often killed then, the
robin generally manages to escape: its peak accident rate being later in
the year. Thrushes, particularly during drought periods, hunt fei snails
in hedge banks and use the road as an anvil.

Grit is a necessity to many species and I have notes of house Senaere
frequenting iron gratings from which snow had disappeared and where
grit was exposed. A further example of this habit was illustrated during
the winter of 1938 when a massive movement of larks crossed Kent and
scores of birds alighted in the streets of towns to take grit before feeding
in gardens and allotments. Mr. George Edwards in a broadcast talk
referred to grit being taken by a winter roost of rooks before they passed
on to forage in the fields. The carrion crow has also been observed
swallowing grit on roads, but equally interesting is the rapidity with which
carcases of diseased rabbits or road casualties in other mammals were
dealt with by parties of foraging crows.

There do not appear to be any recent notes on nightjars behaving in this
country as they do in other parts of the world where they become frequent
road casualties. The correspondence relating to this behaviour being
found in The Ibis, Vol. 96, Nos. 2 and 4, and Vol. 97, No. 2.

Other attractions the roads have for birds are obviously where drinking
pools collect and soft mud patches (becoming increasingly rare) for
hirundines.

Flying birds, even when not directly menaced by traffic, frequently twist
and turn in panic and fly along a road for yards if they happen to be
crossing a road when a car or a cyclist is beneath them. I have noticed
this behaviour particularly in whitethroats and the goldfinch. Some birds
also appear to leave their take-off too late and are run over (I once ran
over a juvenile house sparrow in this way). I have received a notification
of a wren being drawn on to the road and stunned by the air-flow of a
passing car. This bird later recovered.

SUMMARY
TOTAL CASE HISTORIES. 274 OF 28 SPECIES
3 Q Juvenile

Sparrow. ... ae Lets FOO 40 29 19 June/July
Blackbird” «.. Pes bi 42 18 5 12 First 7 months
Song Thrush fe ai 38 May, June, July
Chaffinch ... ve deh 15 5 8 June’
Greenfinch nite _ 13 8 4 1 June/July
Robin one xa 8 July/August
Whitethroat 7 May/June
Starling 7 | May/June
Lesser Whitethroat 6 May—on passage
Linnet Bp 6

Dunnock >)

Blue Tit 3

Swallow 2

Great Tit D:

Yellowhammer 2,

Vol. 76 152 1956

Single examples of the following have been found or reported: Bittern
(Dr. J. M. Harrison, personal communication), pheasant, red necked
phalarope (found on Brecon Beacons, personal communication, George
Shannon), dunlin (this bird was found near Wrotham and had been ringed
near Stavanger, J. Allen, personal communication), little owl, wood pigeon,
house martin, wren, mistle-thrush, redwing, corn bunting, tree sparrow,
budgerigar.

Dr. Jeffery Harrison said he had been struck by the apparent difference
in the number of bird road casualties in this country and on the Continent,
more casualties being found in this country. In two journies from Kent
to Berkshire this summer, 83 miles distant, 55 birds had been found, made
up of 42 house sparrows, 6 blackbirds, 3 song thrushes, | rook, | jay,
1 yellow bunting and a tame pigeon, the order of frequency corresponding
closely with Mr. Finnis’ findings. On a recent visit to France, only 4
casualties were found over 2,252 miles, in spite of a most careful watch.
These were 2 house sparrows, a little and a long-eared owl. Mr. David
Jones, who travelled 1,140 miles in France in August, found only 8. It
seemed possible that the twisting British roads, often enclosed by hedges
and carrying a heavy volume of traffic, were more lethal to bird life than
the straighter, more open French roads, where traffic is lighter.

Another interesting factor is the widespread habit of birds to come on
to the roads at dawn. This is reflected in the species killed and the com-
monest observed is the house sparrow, but the habit is marked in the
thrushes, finches, yellow bunting, starling, robin, skylark, pied wagtail,
rook and carrion crow. Fast motoring at this time kills many birds.
Whether they are collecting grit or feeding is not determined as yet. Two
house sparrows and a blackbird picked up soon after dawn contained
grit, a blackbird and song thrush contained small beetles and earwigs and
a house sparrow had corn.

Dr. Harrison mentioned crows as road casualties, killed as they fed on
rabbits and hedgehogs. He also mentioned a snipe he had seen settle and
get run over. It was found to be blind in one eye.

Lord Hurcomb wondered whether the different speeds in France and
Britain was reflected in Dr. Harrison’s figures and whether buzzards were
finding a living from bird casualties. He also questioned the effect of
headlights on birds.

James Fisher referred to a census made about 30 years ago and which
would make an interesting comparison with the present time. He had also
observed many birds on the roads soon after dawn and had run over a
number himself. Although he thought some were getting grit, others he
felt sure were there in order to keep their feet dry when there was a heavy
dew in the fields. When studying rooks he had noticed that they arrived
in the fields later on such mornings. He also mentioned a turkey buzzard
and a great bustard as unusual road casualties.

Miss Longfield wondered if the differences in British and French figures
were associated with a smaller bird population in France.

1956 153 : Vol. 76

Some notes on Fox’s Swamp Warbler Calamocichla
rufescens foxi (Sclater)

by CAPT. CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 30th June, 1956

| have followed Chapin, Birds of the Belgian Congo, 3, pp. 449-450, in
regarding foxi as a race of the large swamp-warbler Calamocichla rufescens
(Sharpe and Bouvier). M-Praed and Grant, however, Birds of Eastern and
North Eastern Africa, 2, p. 379, agree with W. L. Sclater in according it
specific rank Calamocichla (Calamoecetor) foxi.

First, | must draw attention to an unfortunate /apsus calami in M-Praed
and Grant (‘bid.) in regard to the type locality of foxi which they give as
‘*Lake Maraye, Kivu district, eastern Belgian Congo,’’ whereas W. Sclater
when describing C. foxi, BULL. B.O.C. xlvii, 1927, pp. 118-119, records
**Lake Maraye, Kigezi district, South-west Uganda,’’ and this is correct.
Jackson: The Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, 2,
p. 1044, and Chapin (ibid.) refer correctly to the Kigezi district, as also do
Grant and M-Praed, BuLL. B.O.C. Ixi, 1941, p. 40—in which paper C. foxi
is treated as a species ‘‘as it lies within the area of C. nilotica’’ Neumann.
M-Praed and Grant (ibid.) give the range of C. foxi in Eastern Africa as
**South-western Uganda at Lake Mutanda to northern Ruanda and
eastern Belgian Congo at Lake Maraye,’’ but the last seven words are
incorrect. The type specimen was collected by T. V. Fox, a Uganda
District Officer, in the Kigezi district of S.W. Uganda. Lake Maraye,
which is now known as Lake Mureyhe or Lake Muleyhe, and sometimes
as Lake Muanga, is about two miles east of and a few feet higher than
Lake Mutanda. According to Chapin (ibid.) the smaller Calamocichla
gracilirostris nuerensis Lynes, which he records from Lake Albert at
Butiaba and Kasenyi, is found at Kabare at the southern end of Lake
Edward, while the larger C.rufescens nilotica occurs along the Upper
Semliki (which is in the Lake Edward region) and in the Rutshuru valley
(south of Lake Edward). Nilotica has been collected in the Mubuku valley
in the western foothills of Ruwenzori, where I found it common in dense
stands of elephant grass (Pennisetum), and it also occurs commonly under
similar conditions along most other Uganda rivers flowing south-easterly
from this mountain range. Grant and M-Praed were evidently unaware
of the occurrence of C. g. nuerensis at the southern extremity of Lake
Edward, as this overlaps the range of their C.g.nilotica. Chapin is justi-
fied in regarding the large and noisy nilotica as a race of C.rufescens. The
contention that C. foxi ‘‘lies within the area of C.nilotica’’ and therefore
must be regarded as a separate species is fallacious, as it overlooks the
factor of altitude, for whereas the main Uganda habitat of nilotica is at an
altitude of 3,000 feet or lower, that of foxi is at 6,000 to 6,400 feet. The
Rutshuru river flows out of Lake Mutanda to reach eventually the south-
eastern end of Lake Edward and it is by this river route a swamp warbler
which has the same harsh voice as C.rufescens could have reached Lake
Mutanda (thence to Lake Mureyhe), whence swamp routes give access to
Lake Bunyonyi and thence to the Ruanda lakes and Lake Kivu —all high
altitude waters. The range of the highland foxi is definitely outside that
of the lower altitude nilotica, and the climatic conditions in the two habitats
are very different.

Vol. 76 154 - 1956

The voice of the larger C.rufescens is very distinct from that of the smaller
C.gracilirostris and this is a characteristic field diagnostic. That of the
former cannot be described as a song, for it 1s a noisy, sustained chattering
or churring, which Chapin, p. 447, aptly describes as a ‘“‘loud, guttural
‘churr’ or extend it to a series of resonant syllables... . . These have a
gurgling, brassy quality which is most distinctive’’; that of the latter is
pitched higher and is more of a squeaky song. The harsh chattering of
foxiin the papyrus and Phragmites fringe of Lakes Mutanda and Mureyhe
—and to a lesser extent at the northern end of Lake Bunyonyi—was a
familiar sound in the course of the many visits | made to these regions.
It was always very noisy, particularly in the early morning and late
afternoon, around Lakes Mutanda and Mureyhe in the five months
—December to March—during which the visits were made, and it creeps
through the Phragmites rather than the papyrus.

Chapin (in /itt. 1Sth April, 1954, and 26th January, 1956) has collected
C.rufescens from Tshibati Farm (6,400 feet) 2° 14’ S.: 28° 47’ E. to the
south-west of Lake Kivu (4,789 feet). His specimens were obtained in
dense elephant grass where they were very hard to see and even harder to
find if shot. He writes with reference to foxi ‘‘This race lives not within
the range of C.r.nilotica, but just to the east of it, in a highland area, and
on the fringe of the range of the whole species. There is no barrier between
the areas occupied by nilotica and foxi because this species of warbler
inhabits any dense stand of Pennisetum purpureum as well as papyrus, and
the Pennisetum grass grows anywhere between the level of Lake Edward
and the highlands of Kivu and Kigezi up to 7,000 feet.

Up here at Tshibati we live with Calamocichla rufescens in the elephant
grass all about the farm, even within 100 yards of our house, and hear it
‘“surgling’’ all through the year, though less often in the dry season of
July-August. We have no papyrus here, and have found a couple of nests
placed on tall stalks of Pennisetum where a side shoot furnished the neces-
sary support. One nest, 27th February, 1954, contained a fledgling
Chrysococcyx klaasi, the other 11th January, 1954, had one egg which
disappeared shortly after the nest was found.

I am now satisfied that the race here at Tshibati is. foxi. Only eight
specimens have been collected (four of each sex), and two of the males
have wing-tips and tails so worn that their measurements are useless.
But the measurements as a whole are those of the large foxi. .. .

A race of Calamocichla gracilirostris lives along the western shore of
Lake Kivu, and we have heard it singing at Katana, but it does not come
up in the near-by highlands . . . its voice is always sweeter, never so
brassy, as that of rufescens.’’ On 31st July, 1956, Chapin again wrote to
inform me that the range of foxi ‘‘appears to range south to the marshes
of the Akanyaru, some distance south of Astrida, on the boundary of
Urundi.’’

At the north end of Lake Mutanda, which I investigated frequently,
and at Lake Mureyhe, I found foxi plentiful but a great skulker and
exceedingly difficult to collect as one usually saw it at a distance of a few
feet when it would have disintegrated to a .410 charge. Several were shot
but only one was recovered.

Most of the nests I have found were placed in the centre of the inflor-

escence of a papyrus head, exactly as depicted by Chapin, p. 448, for

1956 ; lee) , Vol. 76

C.r.nilotica; the measurements of a set of three eggs of this race he gives
as 20.3—21.2 mm. x 15.f-15.5 mm. and their colour ‘‘white, finely specked
with brown and more coarsely spotted with dark brown, the larger
markings most abundant around the blunt end.’’

The nest and eggs of C.r.foxi have not previously been described. |
found three nests with eggs in the latter half of March. All the nests were
solidly built of broad, dry and dead reed blades, thickly lined with fine,
dry, shredded grasses, or the dry, fine stems of papyrus plumes. Typically
reed-warblerlike, compact and with a neat deep cup, almost as deep as the
average inside diameter of 24 inches. They were usually some 5 feet above
the water level and in the papyrus heads, but one was firmly bound to
three Phragmites stems. One egg was fresh and could not be left to await
others as I was on the move; it measured 22.3 x 15.5 mm. The parent was
seen at the nest. The other two eggs, also singles, were infertile, but there
is no doubt about their identity as the nests were typical, the eggs resembled
the fresh one and no other large species of swamp warbler occurs on Lake
Mutanda. The distinctive eggs are dull or dirty grey-white with a few
umber spots superimposed on a cloudy cap of grey and grey-black
_suffusion and spots, or boldly spotted brown and light brown on dull slaty
the markings mainly at the larger end and the underlying slaty marks
preponderating. The two infertile eggs are each of abnormal shape and
measure respectively 25.2 x 15.2 mm. (rather elongate) and 22.3 x 13.6 mm.
(very narrow). Dozens of hours were spent from time to time in fruitless
search for occupied nests in the papyrus and Phragmites fringe. Many old
nests were found, but the real breeding season was never determined, it
certainly was not in March, nor in the other months previously mentioned,
and is presumably in the August-November period.

Both Dr. J. P. Chapin and Capt. C. H. B. Grant have kindly read
through this, though the latter does not approve my taxonomic defection.

Notes on the Systematics of African Bulbuls
by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE

Received 30th April, 1956

1. The relationships within the genus Pycnonotus

Although P.capensis (Linne) is best treated as a separate species, it is
by no means certain that P.nigricans (Vieillot) is really specifically distinct
from the other African bulbuls often combined as races of P.barbatus. In
a series from South West Angola in the British Museum, although most
are noted as having had the yellow eye ring of P.nigricans there are others
collected at Benguella town and Catumbella which are noted as having
had a greenish black eye ring. Two of them are also a little browner on the
crown than the blackish crowned nigricans. I strongly suspect that these
birds are the product of P.b.tricolor meeting P.nigricans, but only more
data and field study can elucidate this. In the meantime I leave P.nigricans
as a species.

All the other African bulbuls are races of P.barbatus. The relationship
between the various proposed subspecies can be most easily examined by
dividing the variations into three categories. Firstly, the well marked

Vol. 76. 156 1956

forms, inornatus, arsinoe, schoanus, dodsoni, tricolor and layardi. These
exhibit the important variable characters, colour of under tail coverts, crown
and head ; presence or absence of white spot on side of neck, and plain or
mottled breast pattern. I call these six forms the primary variations and
some of them are still treated by some ornithologists as distinct species.
They are linked by a series of populations exhibiting intermediate
characters.

Of these intermediates P.b.gabonensis which links inornatus (white under
tail coverts) to tricolor (yellow under tail coverts) is the only intermediate
population which shows a mixture of these colours, the under tail coverts
being otherwise deep yellow or white. P.b.gabonensis has pale sulphur
under tail coverts. P.b.somaliensis is a perfect link between schoanus and
dodsoni; it has white under tail coverts like schoanus but the rest of its
pattern is more like dodsoni; it likewise has a relatively small range.

P.b.dodsoni appears to have extended its range south in fairly recent
times with two rather striking results. On the southern edge of the
Ethiopian highlands a bird very like schoanus but with yellow (not white)
under tail coverts is P.b.spurius. It is the product of P.b.schoanus and
P.b.tricolor or P.b.layardi but is now isolated from the latter by the
occurrence of P.b.dodsoni in northern Kenya and south Ethiopia. Secondly
where P.b.dodsoni meets the black and brown headed populations of more
southern type in Kenya and north-east Tanganyika, no very well marked
intermediate population exists and the extremes therefore appear to
approach each other very closely and almost look like good species. But
some dodsoni from these areas show unmistakeable signs of gene flow in
reduction of the mottled pattern of their back and breast, and great
reduction of the white spot on the side of the neck. Such birds have been
named Jittoralis and chyuluensis by van Someren but the range of such
intermediates is difficult to define and to some extent discontinuous which
makes their recognition even as an intermediate subspecies very unsatis-
factory. Finally, brown headed tricolor and black headed /ayardi have a
zone linking them inhabited by birds with very dark brown heads; these
have been called ngamii and fayi. The zone of these intermediates varies
in width; at first it appeared that ngamii might be used for birds from north
Bechuanaland, whilst in Northern Rhodesia tricolor and layardi replaced
each other almost without intergrades. However intergrades do occur;
in a series from Namwala most are as black headed as /ayardi, but some
are like ngamii. Many birds from the Zambesi valley in Barotseland also
seem rather dark brown for tricolor; in a similar way I have seen very dark
birds where tricolor and /ayardi meet in the north-east of Northern
Rhodesia at Isoka and in southern Tanganyika at Mpanda.

Probably no bird in Africa has a more completely continuous range than
P.barbatus, for it occurs in very arid country in Somalia and the Sudan
and in very well timbered country including a more or less continuous
range across the Congo basin wherever there are clearings. I feel therefore
that to give the same taxonomic status to these intergrading hybrid
populations as to the primary variations is biologically misleading. It
conceals their character as well as their variable degree of stability. I
consider that these races should in future be expressed as P.b.tricolor x
P.b.layardi rather than as P.b.ngamii, and so on.

The third type of variation is clinal within the six primary subspecies

1956 | 157 Vol. 76

which I discussed above. Of these arsinoe, schoanus and dodsoni do not
show any defined clinal variation.

Both tricolor and lJayardi exhibit identical clines, being lighter on the
chest in the north of their ranges due to the greater extent of white extend-
ing upwards from the abdomen as well as to the actually paler colour of the
grey brown breast, and more pronounced light fringes to the breast
feathers. Failure to notice this has resulted in great inconsistency among
some writers who recognize one and not the other of these variations by
name. Both or neither should be recognized; only the extremes of the
ranges of both tricolor and layardi are readily separable, and the area of
intergrades not readily identifiable is greater than the area of the extremes,
which casts some doubt upon the usefulness of giving names to the
extremes. The intergrades fayi and ngamii show exactly the same differ-
ences from one another as the northern and southern extremes of tricolor
and /ayardi.

The clinal variation in West Africa is least easy to treat. It is partly a
question of dark and light general colour, but this seems not to be cor-
related with humidity for birds from Liberia and the Ivory Coast are the
lightest of all, birds from the Gold Coast (typical inornatus) are darker
and Nigerian birds (nigeriae) are darkest. The inland populations have the
upperside as light as birds from Liberia and the Ivory Coast but have
darker crowns; [ cannot see much difference in birds from Senegal to Lake
Chad, though the latter would be P.b.goodi Rand. They may represent a
slight trend towards arsinoe as Rand suggests but I find them just like
others from Senegal.

Actually they are capable of an alternative explanation. Near the coast
all these bulbuls are more or less uniform in colour with crown little or no
darker than mantle; the whole upper surface darkens from the pale birds
of Liberia through slightly darker birds in the Gold Coast to the darkest
birds in Nigeria; the inland birds from Senegal to Lake Chad are pale on
the mantle like birds from Liberia but have darker heads and in this
respect could be regarded as being intermediate between inornatus and
nigeriae. Since the cline in the latter two is geographic from west to east
but not linked to humidity, it is probably most satisfactory to regard
goodi as such an intermediate in characters.

I am greatly indebted to Mr. R. E. Moreau, who looked at these bulbuls
with me, and agrees with me on the need for a taxonomic treatment which
emphasizes the hybrid characters of the secondary ‘‘subspecies’’; and to

Mrs. B. P. Hall, who drew my attention to the variation in the eye rings of
P.nigricans.

2. The range and variation in Andropadus ansorgei Hartert

The British Museum has a series of nine of the nominate race from
Owerri; seven others from Cameroons to Upper Congo are on average
less rusty, and rather colder and greyer but the differences are hardly
ee enough to justify the recognition of A.a.muniensis Grote,
especially as this trend is only a cline to the extreme A.a.kavirondensis
(van Someren) in western Kenya. A.ansorgei also occurs in Sierra Leone,
for there are two hitherto unrecorded specimens from York Pass and
Bintumane peak in the British Museum. They agree better with birds from
the upper Congo than with those from Owerri in their cold and greyish

Vol. 76 158 1956

undersides. This seems an additional reason for not recognizing /.a.
muniensis, since to do so will necessitate naming a race in upper Guinea
which cannot as yet be defined.

3. Sibling species in Criniger

Chapin (Auk 1948, p. 444) pointed out that there were two very similar
bulbuls in the Congo; the bird with a thick bill and olive brown tail he
called C.calurus emini Chapin; the thin billed bird with a reddish tail he
called C.c.ndussumensis Reichenow. He then believed that they were
conspecific although years before Gyldenstolpe had suggested that there
were two species and renamed the thin billed bird C.bannermani. Now
Berlioz (Bull. Mus. Nat.Hist.Nat.Paris 1955, p. 189) has pointed out that
in Gaboon birds with both types of bill occur together, although there the
tail colour is reddish in both. He suggests that the small billed bird should
be called C.swainsoni Neumann (1914 Sierra Leone). However the type of
swainsoni is in the British Museum and is like C.verreauxi Sharpe, of which
it has been regarded as a synonym; it cannot be used for the thin billed
bird, since both verreauxi and swainsoni are based on the large billed bird
of upper Guinea.

A careful comparison of the thick and thin billed birds in the Congo
basin reveals some slight colour differences; the thin billed birds differ
from the thick billed in having a little more melanin in their plumage,
making them a trifle more dusky green on the breast and flanks; similarly
their under tail coverts are more buffy, less clear yellow; also they have a
grey white anteocular spot not obvious in the thick billed bird. I cannot
see much difference in the feet despite what Berlioz has written on this.
Now Mrs. Hall has pointed out to me that C.olivaceus of upper Guinea has
a small bill like the thin billed birds of lower Guinea; it has a green (not
grey) crown and a yellowish anteocular spot. I have no doubt that the
oldest name for the thin billed bird is C.olivaceus (Swainson); since the
thin billed bird of lower Guinea seems identical from Owerri to the Semliki,
all must be called C.o.ndussumensis at present pending the determination
of the type of Cassin’s C.calurus which is at present used for the large
billed bird*. C.olivaceus and C.calurus will then be the specific names
of the two species; in upper Guinea the two species are easily distinguished
by head colour; in lower Guinea from south-east Nigeria to the Congo
mouth they are extraordinarily alike apart from bill and anteocular spot;
further east still from the middle Congo to the Semliki they again are
separable on tail colour.

The examination of the type of ndussumensis is desirable to confirm that
the name has been correctly used; otherwise I believe that the two sibling
species are as set out as above, Berlioz being quite correct in his contention
about the birds from Gaboon being two seperate species.

Note on Ploceus Reichardi Reichenow
by Mr. J. S. S. BEESLEY
Received 2Ist June, 1956
In the Birds of Eastern and North-eastern Africa, vol. 2, p. 895, 1955,
Mackworth-Praed and Grant note that very little is recorded on the habits

*Comparison has since been made for me at Philadelphia. The type of C.ca/urus is large
billed.

1956 | Pai ise Vol. 76

etc., of this weaver. This weaver breeds in the Rukwa Valley, south-
western Tanganyika Territory, in January and February. The nests, which
are kidney-shaped with the entrance-hole underneath, are made of grass
and suspended in Ambatch bushes (Sesbania sp.) about 6 to 9 feet above
ground level in swampy areas on the plains. Apparently, the nests are
not lined.

Nesting is in colonies of from four to fifteen and 150, the nests being
separated by about a yard. Only one egg was found in a nest, but this
may not be the full clutch. Eggs are either pale olive colour densely
covered with faint brown markings, or pale greenish-blue more sparsely
spotted and blotched with brown and measure 19.5 x 13, 20 x 13.5, 20 x 14
and 21 x 14.5mm. There is considerable chattering at the nesting site and
from individuals feeding in the long grass. The song is an unmusical
mixture of chirps, twitterings and chattering. Occasionally a coarse high
trill is uttered, also a grasshopper-like churring of short duration (one to
two seconds). There is also a warbler-like low click. The food is mainly
grass seeds and, in the evening, feeding takes place in the long grass under
the Acacia trees on the edge of the plains. When I visited the nesting sites
in the third week in February, the birds had all gone and the elephants had
trampled the Sesbania and nests underfoot.

It should be remarked that the natives plunder the nests, even to cutting
down the trees, to take nestlings for food.

On Barbatula bocagei Sousa, Jorn. Ac. Real. Sci. Lisboa,
11, p. 158, 1886: Caconda, Angola

by CAPTAIN C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Received 12th May, 1956

Through the kindness of the authorities of the Museum Bocage, Lisbon,
and of the British Museum (Natural History), we have been enabled to
examine the type of this bird. It is a young bird, not yet able to fly, of
Lybius torquatus Dumont. It has been skinned from spirit, and so the
description of the white eye-stripe, sides of face and throat are due to the
red colour having disappeared, as is always the case in spirit specimens.

Our measurements of this young bird are: Wing 70, bill 20, tail 35,
tarsus 20 mm. Barbatula bocagei Sousa, therefore becomes a synonym of
Lybius torquatus Dumont, 1816.

African Swifts

by CAPTAIN C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Received 2nd August, 1956
In the /bis, p. 34, 1956, Dr. Lack in ‘‘The Species of Apus,’’ has raised
two points that we should like to criticize: On p. 39 he considers that
Apus horus Heuglin, and Apus toulsoni Bocage, are conspecific.

Surely such distinguishing characters as a white and black rump are
specific, despite the fact that otherwise the general characters agree. We
consider that A.horus and A.toulsoni should be treated as different species.

On p. 43 he considers that A.myoptilus Salvadori, and A.poensis
Alexander, should be treated as conspecific with perhaps also 4.batesi

Vol. 76 160 1956

Sharpe. Apart from colour differences A.poensis differs from A.myoptilus
in the tail which is by no means so deeply forked nor are the outer feathers
so narrow and pointed. A.batesi, as Dr. Lack has said on p. 44, ‘ ‘differs
conspicuously from A.myoptilus in being a glossy blue-black,’’ and the
outer tail feathers are not the same.

We maintain our opinion that A.poensis, A.myoptilus and A.batesi are
three different species and that the first (A.poensis) should be left as a race
of A.unicolor Jardine.

A New Race of Swallow from Somaliland

by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE
Received 3rd June, 1956

Amadon (Amer.Mus. Nov. No. 1656, 1954, p. 3) separated Hirundo
aethiopica fulvipectus as a western race of H.aethiopica. A recent examina-
tion of the material in the British Museum including the type of aethiopica
and seven others from Ethiopia shows that the nominate form is like birds
from the Sudan and Nigeria in having buff from chin to breast; I cannot
separate these typical aethiopica from a long series from the range of
fulvipectus Amadon, nor do nominate birds exhibit the characters ascribed
to them by Amadon. These characters are, however, well shown in birds
from Somalia, and this race needs a name.

Hirundo aethiopica amadoni subsp.nov.

Description: Differs from nominate aethiopica in having the throat and
breast white, only the chin being slightly tinged with buff.

Type: adult male collected at Geloher, Somaliland on 17th March, 1919,
by Col. Stephenson Clarke. B.M. Reg. No. 1923.8.7.4014.

Range. British Somaliland to N.E. Kenya as far as Lamu.

Eight examined.

I am indebted to Mrs. B. P. Hall for finding time to examine these
swallows with me.

On the type locality of Lybius dubius (Gmelin)

by CAPTAIN C. H. B. GRANT AND Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Received 8th May, 1956

Gmelin, and all other authors, have given “‘Coasts of Barbary’’ as the
type locality of this species, and we cannot find that any author has
suggested a better locality.

Barbary is confined to the northern part of Africa, west of Egypt to the
Atlantic and north of the Sahara. This species is not found north of the
French Sudan and it may have been taken to the Barbary coast by the old
trade routes across the Sahara either alive or asa skin. As it is now known
not to occur anywhere north of the Sahara we would propose Mopti,
Niger River, French Sudan, as the type lovalitys: ents being the most
geo locality where the bird occurs. SAO }

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&*e a : Notices
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